All Our Yesterdays
by BakersWife0815
Summary: For the Class of 1995 time seems to creep slowly as they enter their final year at Hogwarts. However, time soars faster than a snitch in reality even if everyone believes otherwise. Elizabeth Abrams just wants a taste of adventure, Ryo Nakamori just wants a taste of chocolate, and Ethan Burns just wants a taste of the Durmstrang student with the elusive lips.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter. Only the ideas that my brain decides to feed me ;)

While this is my first time publishing under this account, it is most definitely not my first fanfiction (and the first chapter will certainly not be the longest). The story stays in third-person but drifts from perspective to perspective. And, shockingly enough, there will be many OCs merely because I refuse to mix both OCs and canon characters unless I have to. This story sticks more to the books, and less to the movies, but if you're expecting this to be completely canon you are reading the wrong 'fic.

Enjoy!

Key:

"Harry Potter is awesome" = verbal conversation

 _Harry Potter is awesome_ , = mental thought

Harry Potter _is_ awesome = the italics in this instance are a mere exaggeration.

... (or some equivalent) = we are changing perspectives or introducing an A/N

...

"What a fabulous note to end on, hmm? No Quidditch tournament! Just the _glorious_ Triwizard Tournament! How's that for our final year?"

"I'm not quite sure if you're being sarcastic or not."

"Neither am I. On one hand, no chances of winning the Quidditch Cup. On the other hand, possible fame and glory."

"… Aren't fame and glory pretty much the same thing?"

"Oh, hush you." The whisper, filled with facetious humor, reached only its intended recipient. Said recipient merely smiled back at this remark and soon the pair soon broke into giggles and quiet snickers of laughter because they couldn't take themselves at all seriously.

"Well, no Quidditch games mean no chance to cheer for-" A sharp elbow ended the unfinished tease.

"Oi! I just meant that this year we won't get another chance to destroy Slytherin."

"You stopped caring about the school rivalry years ago when you had become friends with-"

"Oi! We don't talk about idiots, remember?"

"Right. Sorry about that."

"Shhh!" An audacious third year hissed as Headmaster Dumbledore continued to lay out the set up for the Tournament. Two pairs of brown eyes slowly turned to the third year, one out of pure irritation and the other out of pure amusement. The third year avoided their stares and the more irritated one of the pair scoffed in disbelief. However, the duo did quiet down to listen to the rants and dreams of their other classmates, once Dumbledore finished speaking.

"You go, Fred!" Ethel Fairbanks whispered with great admiration from down the table as the Weasley twin laid out his plan. Elizabeth Abrams rolled her eyes at this and her friend, Olivia Ellery, merely chuckled at the response.

"Relax, Elizabeth. The fan club is just getting started." Jacob Poole said.

"He's right, Elizabeth. Maybe they'll even let you join this year?"

"Oh, shut up." She said, harrumphing at the tease she was being dealt. Elizabeth soon turned around to focus on something else in the Great Hall and quickly perked up again when she looked over at the Slytherin table.

"Three sickles says Ethan tries to claim his spot as 'the Rightful Champion' before the end of the night."

"I'll raise you to five Sickles because we both know he's going to be distracted by some guy."

"Ooh, now it's on!"

...

 _Yes, Draco, we know_ all _about your father's fabulous influence. And we've learned a great deal about your own stupidity, tonight being a prime example._

Ethan Burns' had a smile brighter than a stage light and it only grew when he was in the vicinity of those that were self-absorbed or rather moronic, like Gilderoy Lockhart or Draco Malfoy.

Oh, and, yes, Ethan did know that that particular defense teacher was a fraud from Day One.

Fortunately, said defense teacher was also sexy as hell.

Ethan shook himself out of these thoughts with a little disappointment because the eye candy that was Gilderoy Lockhart had long since left the building. However, there is eye candy at his own House table and so he really didn't need to reminisce to enjoy himself.

And once Ethan shook himself out of his reminisces, he could only contemplate one thing:

 _How acceptable would it be it to strangle Draco Malfoy's neck?_

 _Although_ , he thought with mental snicker, _I think I might have to share the privilege._ Yes, Ann Hayes also looked like she was getting rather close to the end of her rope. They shared a moment of fantastic connection as the two met glances across the table.

 _Now can I punch him?_ Was the only thought Ethan seemed to be receiving from the beautiful redhead.

 _Only if I get to mess up his hair._ Because, really, if there's one way to get to Draco Malfoy it would probably be messing up with his platinum blond hair.

However, even though that would be quite fun it would also be socially unacceptable. What is more socially acceptable is to sit quietly through conversation and try to pretend to listen without dying of boredom first. And if there is one thing any good Slytherin should know it is that it is necessary to fake active listening. It is a skill many fail to possess and many others fail to realize is quite necessary to succeed.

 _Now, on to more important matters: where did that delectable scent come from?_ _Certainly_ not _Malfoy_.

Ethan paused and closed his eyes to better detect where that wonderful cologne came from. He subtly sniffed the air and allowed the rugged mixture of burning wood and delicious manliness to pull his nose towards the wearer.

 _Oh, Moore, you sly dog! Who knew you had such excellent taste– or should I say scent?_

...

"I believe you owe me. Clearly he's been distracted by some boy."

"What do you mean—why on earth is he talking to _Moore_?"

...

Pale hands gripped the Hufflepuff table as a head lightly connected to the soothing, cold wood.

"Are you alright, Ryo?" Cedric Diggory asked the tired girl across from him. At the sound of concern, even from a classmate she rarely talked to, Ryo lifted her head up and gave the sixth year a faint smile.

"We haven't even been here a week and I already know that Hogwarts is already back to its obnoxious self." She was happy to be back, yes. Yet the fact that the chatter surrounding Ryo was already giving the poor Hufflepuff a headache reminded her that she didn't always love Hogwarts.

However, just one year to go and then the endless chatter and the twittering gossip would finally be over.

… Hopefully.

...

A/N: More of a prologue and less of a chapter. Since this story has (mostly) been written out I can guarantee that the chapters will become a lot longer. Also, I'll set out a list of all the characters (once they've all been mostly introduced).

Also, you'll note that the story does jump from perspective to perspective. This is because I find it far easier to write from various moments in time instead of focusing on a single build-up.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I can assure you of three things: I am still not JK Rowling and I do not own Harry Potter. Finally, we are picking up speed so the chance to meet the other characters are coming up because it's time to meet the other schools! Enjoy :)

...

"So, let's recap, shall we?

"Thomas and Emma split,"

"Surprise, surprise."

"Draco the amazing bouncing ferret became a thing and we enjoyed said thing."

"Something that will remain one of my favorite memories of the boy."

"You mean other than the time—"  
"We don't talk about that."

"But it was absolutely brilliant."

"So I slapped the twat, Irene. I'm sure at least one other girl has by this point."

"But you're the only seventh year to do so." Ann Hayes frowned at this remark and silence hung over the pair for a moment.

"Understandably so."

"So what happens in the Slytherin Common Room stays in the Slytherin Common Room?" The redhead double checked, and the brunette nodded in response.

"Same for the dorms, mind you." They snickered at this together.

"Especially with that whole debacle with Eric."

"What did we just talk about, dear Annie?"

"Nothing at all, sweet Irene." The sarcasm was cranked up to the maximum but for all the disdainful remarks the pair were surprisingly good friends.

"Now, apparently Harry Potter has snuck a love potion into Hogwarts."

"Ann. If we listened to every rumor that had Potter's name attached to it we wouldn't get to the important people. Merlin's beard, the boy is only fourteen years old!"

"Just because he's fourteen years old does not mean he won't get attention. Are you sure you're not smitten with him like most of the girls in my own year are?" Ann retorted, a knowing smile on her face.

"Oh, you must joking me. I don't care for him in the slightest, he's too young and he's busy being a celebrity. Besides, he looks like one of my cousins. And you know how I feel about my cousins."

"Alright, so you've never been interested in Harry Potter, fair enough. But, surely, you've got your eye on someone? Danielle's supposed to be the asexual one, not you."

"Danielle's not really asexual, I'll have you know."

"Ooh! I didn't know you were interested in girls! Irene, I'll admit I had you pegged for guys, not girls."

"What? Wait, I'm not interested in Danielle!" Irene loudly responded, blushing at the response. Danielle, another Slytherin sixth year who had been only a few meters away, jumped at the sound of this statement.

"Well, while I'm not surprised at this sudden declaration, Irene, I'll have you know that there was no need to shout it to the world. After all, aren't you interested in—"

"Nobody! I'm interested in nobody, Danielle!" Mary paused, before realizing she wasn't actually supposed to reveal the information. She sighed, rolling her eyes.

"I don't know why you get so defensive, Irene. However, I'll respect your wishes."

"Ooh, I don't think you really need to do that, Danielle!" Ann interjected, curiosity gleaming in her eyes.

"Actually, I think she does." Irene resorted to dragging Ann away from Danielle and her friends. Her blush had only intensified by this point.

"You always ruin my fun."

"Stop pouting, or I won't tell you about what happened to Stein today in class."

...

"Are you interested in the Triwizard tournament, Ryo?" The Asian shook her head.

"I may be of age but I haven't got a death wish, Sara."

"You may be one of the only few with that opinion in this school." Sara Minett said, nodding towards a group of fifth years they were walking by. The fifth years were mostly from Hufflepuff and they were all eagerly talking about the possible glory they were too young to take a shot at.

"Glory is great but what if you're the first one to go?

"Exactly. Besides, I wouldn't want to be in the spotlight. Far too much attention for me."

"And that's totally acceptable, right Sara?" Ethan Burns, a decent friend of Ryo's and a much better friend of Sara's, inserted himself between the pair.

"Yup. And it's good you know yourself that well." Ethan nodded at Sara's statement before looping an arm around her waist.

"Speaking of knowing yourself that well," He said, and Ryo blinked at the sudden tension that overcame Sara. Said Ravenclaw stiffly smiled at Ethan's statement.

"Ethan, I'm quite fine, I assure you." And Ryo took this as her social cue to leave.

"See you both around." She said before leaving the pair. Neither of them paid her any mind as they immediately began a hushed conversation.

Well, she socialized with two people and not just because of a class assignment. That was cause for a celebration!

 _Yes_ , Ryo thought to herself. _A nice mystery novel of some kind. Maybe a manga of some kind._ Manga was becoming more and more popular in Wizarding World. Granted, manga produced by wizards was a bit more magical than the Muggle variety but Ryo was not selective about what she perused.

Now, if only she could convince Madame Pince that manga could actually be educational from time to time.

...

"Why is it so damn cold?"

"Shut up! There's first years around!"

"What in the name of Merlins' trousers is that?"

"Can you honestly believe that Creevey thinks it was a flying house?"

"Well, that was a much better guess than dragon."

"Shut up, Burns."

"Did you also think it was a dragon, Miss Abrams?"

"Yeah. Sorry about that, Professor. Guess I wasn't thinking logically."

"There's no need to apologize, Miss Abrams. Logic is rarely used in the world of magic."

"Guys! Guys!"

The Beauxbaton students had finally arrived.

"Now I thought _we_ had a Fat Lady."

"That'll be quite enough of you, Finnegan."

"Sorry about that, Professor."

As the students began to applaud for Beauxbaton's entrance, Elizabeth halfheartedly joined as she waited for Durmstrang to appear. She did appreciate the French, she really did.

Well… Not really. But, c'est la vie, right?

She only had to wait a few more heartbeats before a captivating whirlpool stole her gaze. The ship carried itself out of the water like a corpse's bride, containing surprisingly elegance for something that looked so menacing. The crowd seemed to lean forward, drawn to the mystery that sailed closer and closer to the school. Elizabeth couldn't quite see the disembarkment, she was a little too far to get that good a view, but judging from the way nobody seemed to gossip she knew they were all impressed. Twelve figures coldly followed an even creepier one, one that was probably the Headmaster.

"Isn't that Krum?"

A world famous Quidditch player was also joining them this year?

Neat.

...

A/N: Now I do remember saying that I don't care for mixing OCs with Canon. This is true. So for all those that are confused by the occasional interactions with Canon, this explanation is for you:

I'm not a big fan of stories that have one of the main female OCs (eg: in this case, Elizabeth or Ryo) suddenly attract the attention of one of the main males non-OCs (eg: Harry, Ron, Draco, etc). It never seemed logical to me. I also can't see any of my friends/old peers (ie: most of the OCs in this story) being any of the main Hogwarts cast. Therefore, while I do like the occasional reference/interaction between canon and fanon characters it's not going to be like Harry Potter is suddenly Elizabeth's best friend or Hermione Granger falls head over heels for Ryo. (And, no Ethan does not get hit on by Draco because if Ethan hasn't conveyed that Draco is _so_ not his type then I've failed in my job as a author/writer.)

Till next time!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: As always, I don't own HP. But I figure I do owe a bit of an explanation for this story, considering I never touch OCs. I've gone through a few very informative years recently. And in order to process it, I've decided to turn them into one story.

Also, time flies in this. There will be random conversations to mark that. Some, are actually important. Others are mirrors of many I've heard and were too funny not to write out. Also, I don't do accents in writing. I can speak in accents but I cannot write them out. You've been warned!

Enjoy :)

...

"I wonder if he's used to it?"

"Who are we talking about Ryo?

"Viktor."

"Viktor?" Now her friend was being purposefully oblivious. But she didn't mind.

"Krum." She admitted with a slight blush. Daisy Brown smiled at this, not even sparing the Quidditch player a second glance.

"I'm sure he's quite used to the attention, Ryo. He's still in school, after all."

"I suppose so."

"Personally, I find it rather annoying actually that he's gained so much attention for just being good in Quidditch." Daisy started but Ryo wasn't in the mood for one of Daisy's lectures on the stupidity of their female classmates. Daisy wasn't annoying, not really, but Ryo just wasn't in the mood. She mentally apologized to her friend of six years before her brain turned to focus on Viktor.

However, once she saw that he was already surrounded by a group of fan girls she allowed her head to flop back onto her table.

It was just not fair.

...

"Do you think Weasley was right when he said that girl was a Veela?"

"Does it really matter?"

"But I'm just saying I might have a chance! I'm part French, after all."

"Your stepmum being half-French does not count."

"Three sickles says it won't be a person doing the judging."

"You're—wait, why?"

"Go to sleep, you two. And stop making bets if you never even take the money."

"Sorry, Mary!"

"Yeah, our apologies, Mary."

"… Wait, why are you still up, Mary?"

"Shhh, Elizabeth. Sleep."

...

"Finally, those stupid Durmstrang people are leaving for their little boat."

"Excellent!"

"About damn time!"

"… Why don't they ever want to sit with us?"

...

The next morning, Professor McGonagall could not truly be surprised at the rather large crowd of students that hovered around the Goblet of Fire.

Why Albus ever agreed to host this blasted tournament she'd never know.

...

"I hope they realize Angelina's not the only Gryffindor that is entering." Elizabeth grumbled as she entered the entrance hall, having heard Angelina and Hermione's conversation on the way in.

"She's a Quidditch player. Aren't we already used to the school ignoring us because of that?"

"Lizzy, you can't seriously be putting your name in." Elizabeth merely smiled in response as she took a step over the Age Line and ignored the nickname.

"But I thought your birthday was in a few months."

"Burns, you incorrigible git." She affectionately said, taking out a piece of paper. It had her name hastily scrawled out as this was a last minute decision. "My birthday was in June."

And yet for all of her bravado her hands still froze over the delicate flames for a brief moment. Hesitation filled her head as she felt the indifferent energy flickering just centimeters away. But the strong image of Charles Moore patronizingly smirking at her was enough of a motivator for trembling hands to release the paper.

 _I'm going to prove you wrong_.

It was not a dramatic gesture but she got a small applause from almost all of her friends. Except one.

"Yes, Burns?" She asked sweetly, turning to Slytherin. He seemed conflicted for once, and his typical coquettish smirk was also missing. However, his countenance almost instantaneously returned to normal after a few seconds and he shook his head.

"Good luck, Elizabeth."

...

"Ooh, c'mon Moore! Don't be a coward. Even Burns put his name in the Goblet." They had been near the goblet, and Charles scowled at his friends. They weren't really friends but they were Slytherins and so they were, unfortunately, his crowd.

 _I'm surrounded by idiots_.

"Don't be an idiot, Clarkson. I already entered my name this morning." He defensively responded to this taunt. Danny Clarkson, an idiotic seventh year and someone Charles thought was rather undeserving of being in the House of Slytherin, merely chuckled at this.

"Sure you did, Moore."

...

"I really don't see the logic behind this."

"Well, Greg, I don't think logic really should be used in this situation." Thomas said with a smile, glancing over at his girlfriend. Sara was looking at the goblet with obvious disapproval. Thomas, on the other hand, had been intrigued by the thing since it had been revealed.

"What if I won, Greg?" He asked the fellow Ravenclaw, feeling unashamedly curious.

"Ravenclaws don't do Tournaments. We read books, we experiment, we learn knowledge, and we absorb wisdom." Greg said, shaking his head in disbelief at Thomas's thoughts.

 _Well, he tried. But I'm definitely not convinced_.

"Well, then in this instance let's consider this an experiment."

"Thomas, you don't have to prove anything. It's much smarter to just not try this and possibly risk your life."

"And miss the opportunity to actually prove Ravenclaw's worth? We can't win if we always hide in the library." Sara's scowl turned into a strained smile.

"Thomas," She said. "Think about this more rationally."

"Sorry, Sara." He firmly responded before getting up. He heard a sigh of disbelief from Greg and a small disheartened sigh from Sara.

"C'mon, Sara. Give Ravenclaw a chance to possibly witness some glory?" Thomas asked even though he knew she did not approve at all of him entering his name. Thomas still got up, and still took out a parchment with him name written on it. His hand didn't even hesitate as he put his name into the flames.

He had already made up his mind hours ago.

...

"You know, _Krum_ is not the only one worthy of note."

"He is, however, the only one with a group of fan girls, Kazimir."

"Why do you care, Kazi?"

The Durmstrang student looked at his friends, almost shocked by their questions.

"It was bad enough that the school is seen in such a dark and mysterious light. We don't even get a chance to defend ourselves against Britain's Wizarding World. But now! Now, we not only get cautious looks for walking down the corridors, we are not even worthy of being mentioned! Just _Viktor Krum_." His taller companion, the tallest of the group, sadly smiled at this.

"Don't worry, Kazimir. I'm sure this year will prove itself to be quite different than you expect."

...

"So, you thought you could sneak your name into the Goblet, did you?"

"Ann, it's not quite like that."

"You wanted to pay _Edwina_ of all people to put your name into the Goblet?"

"I want a chance!" The younger Slytherin crossed her arms irritably, failing to school her features into a more neutral expression. "I'm tired of being told I can't do something just because of trivialities."

"Age is not a triviality, Irene."

"Ann, I'm only a year younger than you. It's not fair!"

"Irene, this is ridiculous. Why do you have a death wish?"

"You know not everyone dies in these Tournaments. It's a lottery, Ann, which means any idiot could have gotten in before. Which also means the Age Limit either should be taken away or lowered to at least sixteen."

"Do you think this is all a game?"

"No, but don't you dare treat me like a child."

"Don't act like one and I won't." Irene harrumphed at this.

"I don't need a mother. I already have one, thank you." Ann winced at this, and Irene paused as she realized her error.

"I'm so sorry, Ann-"

"Just don't." Irene Deening frowned at this, ready to interject with another apology or at least hug her friend. However, Ann raised a hand to halt any comfort.

She already had a perfect, neutral expression plastered on her face.

"I merely don't want you risking your life, Irene. That's all. I don't want to lose anyone and—and that's all."

...

The school waited eagerly as excitement coated each student.

"And now, the moment we've all been waiting for."

"Quiet, Elizabeth." Mary politely spoke and, since Mary was the very few friends Elizabeth listened to, the girl in question fell silent.

However, that didn't stop her brain from racing around her skull with questions of all possible outcomes that would occur in the next few minutes.

 _…_ _What would happen if it's me?_

...

"The Hogwarts Champion is… Cedric Diggory!" A roar of approval came from the Hufflepuff table as Ryo eagerly cheered for her classmate amongst her friends.

"Take that, Gryffindor!"  
"GOO CEDRIC!"

"HA! Cedric is soo much more than just a pretty boy!"

"Well, obviously he isn't _just_ a pretty boy, Greaves. He plays Quidditch after all!"

"WHAT NOW, MALFOY?"

"Looks like we've got ourselves a winner, huh, guys?"

...

"What a pity." Sara said at the announcement of the Hogwarts Champion, insincerity coloring her tone. She glanced over at her boyfriend, whose face revealed none of his inner conflict.

He had probably been so _damn_ close, hadn't he?

And, yeah, he knew why Sara was so damn resolved about not wanting him to compete.

Still didn't mean he wasn't angry about the damn thing.

...

"Typical of Krum to be the winner." Kazimir scowled at that particular announcement.

Kostya Zolnerowich looked over at his bitter companion and considered his next words quite carefully. He knew the scowl was an attempt to hide disappointment and so he had to not respond indifferently.

"Kazimir, remember for one moment that Krum does not beg for attention. He does not want the fan girls and he does not want to be surrounded in the glory he already has. Do you remember the times he would sneak out to just play a game of Quidditch? No official practice, just the occasional night out with his friends. Simply enjoying the night sky, and enjoying it on one of the school's cheap brooms, I might add.

"Well regardless of whether or not you do, I certainly can recall the scene. Karkaroff had personally punished him when he was caught but I cannot recall a time I had ever seen him so genuinely happy." By this point, Kazimir had lifted his head off the table and watched his friend in silence for a few more moments.

"Just because he wasn't the perfect student for one night doesn't mean I'm okay with him being our Champion." Kostya could only chuckle at this.

...

Elizabeth stared at the goblet, feeling a curious amount of pure relief that she hadn't been chosen. Yet, relief was the only emotion that pumped through her veins in the last five minutes, she received a mixture of many others she did not care for.

And as the goblet of fire shot one last parchment into the air, all she could was stare in amazement and let out one more snark.

"My entire family fortune says Potter's name is the one written."

"No deal."

...

A/N: See? I told you the chapters would get longer ;)

On a side note, I quite enjoy it when people catch the references I make in my stories J It's not only references to Harry Potter but other fandoms I enjoy just as much :)

Till next time!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Refer to the disclaimer in the beginning if you still have any doubts about my ownership of HP. We're going to branch out in perspectives this time, for those who are curious about the other OCs. And, as always, enjoy.

...

"Like the badges, boys?" A little nobody second year cackled, pointing at his messy robes. For on his robes a POTTER STINKS badge was pinned. Ethan mentally rolled his eyes at this.

 _How original. And quite_ undoubtedly _creative._

"Does your school normally despise Potter?" Someone, undoubtedly a Durmstrang student, asked nearby. Ethan smiled humorlessly at this, recalling the previous years in which the school had tormented Harry Potter.

 _No, we just manage to put all our frustrations and emotions into the concept of the Boy-Who-Lived. That way we can put a fake face on a boy nobody really knows. Much easier than just dealing with our own issues and accepting that he's just a kid like the rest of us._

"Excuse me," the voice repeated and Ethan found himself suddenly firmly tapped on the shoulder. He jolted at the unexpected contact because no stranger ever just touched Ethan Burns.

He was the one who normally did _all_ the touching.

"I'm sorry." He really wasn't. "Were you talking to me?" _With such a thick accent Baltic accent I'm sure this Durmstrang prat probably takes after Crabbe in appearance_.

Baltics were _so_ not his type.

Ethan turned to see a taller, slender boy – nay, a man!—sitting across the Slytherin dining table. Years of training easily quieted his arousal but he still couldn't help but just stare at the gorgeous eye candy in front of him.

"Well, to sum it up," Ethan began, locking eyes with Mr. Sexy Foreigner.

"Potter's scum. End of story." Bulstrode stole his thunder and so she also stole his blossoming connection with the man.

Damn her!

...

The library tended to be a sanctuary, if one avoided the Viktor Krum fan girl section.  
Which apparently also meant they had to avoid being near Hermione Granger.

Yet Ryo had always manage to avoid both the fan club and Hermione because she didn't hide away behind books piled on a table. She didn't try to run to the non-fiction section, or any particular section.

She merely took solace in the actual shelves.

Ryo despised sitting for hours on end and so only sat if there was a real need for it. Otherwise, she was wandering the shelves and pulling out random books to read. No prejudgment, no scoffs at the size of the spine, and no exasperation if she didn't care for the material. She would merely walk to a new section before closing her eyes and reaching for the first one her hand wanted. A new book was a new adventure and Ryo always enjoyed a good adventure.

Unless, of course, it was an adventure that required her to socialize.

Like today.

"Are you quite alright?" She didn't really want to ask but one could only take so many whispers in a foreign tongue before curiosity took over.

And Merlins beard was that foreign tongue whispering.

She peered over the books on the Ancient Goblin wars, which was today's section of reading material in honor of Professor Binns, and looked over to the new subject: a French girl.

"Excuse me, but exactly what are you looking for?" But the stranger's attention was entirely captured by whatever it was she was doing. And as the foreigner began to hop up and down to reach for the book she wanted Ryo decided it was time to action.

She walked around the bookshelves and scanned the section the other girl was hopping around it. It was still the Ancient Wars section but only the Wizarding wars not the Goblins or the Giants or any of the others really.

"Excuse me!" Ryo repeated, trying to whisper. Unfortunately, she seemed to be channeling her inner snake because it came out as more of a hiss than anything.

"Excuse me," The girl responded in turn with a hint of French in the accent. "But unless you are capable of reaching that book I am completely uninterested in your conversation."

"You do realize that you are a witch after all?" The French girl paused in her hopping and shot Ryo a look drenched in sass.

"Do I inform you of your Asian heritage?" _Well, since we just met I don't think you would inform me of heritage._

"Not every Asian is Chinese, you know." Ryo automatically said, irritation coloring her tone.

"Did I say Chinese or were you just not paying attention? We French are blunt not stupid" _Oops_. The girl harrumphed at this before continuing to hop up and down.

Ryo reflected back on their conversation of about sixty seconds before realizing she could easily reach the book, as she was just a tad taller than the French girl. She looked up at the shelf before realizing that the girl was only interested in a book about the French Wizarding Wars.

 _Typical_ , Ryo thought before realizing that if she was in the same situation she'd probably want the book as well. After all, it must not be pleasant being away from home and so any reminder, any familiarity, is probably appreciated.

But why she was searching for familiarity in the Ancient Wars section escaped Ryo.

Nonetheless, Ryo soon reached up on her tiptoes to grab the book and make sure the French girl didn't harm herself or knock over a shelf.

"Merci!" The girl whispered as she eagerly snatched the book from Ryo. She also gave Ryo a quick, yet rather tight, hug and instantly seemed to be more pleasant.

"This is one of the only French books you seem to carry." The young lady seemed irritated by this fact but quickly waved said irritation away. "And I had to prove that you actually carry a French book even if it's probably been translated into English."

"Shh!" Normally, it wouldn't have taken Madame Pince this long to hush anyone but the poor librarian had been dealing with Krum's fan club for most of the day so it was more understandable than normal. The French girl rolled her eyes at this pathetic attempt for control but both she and Ryo respectfully whispered out an apology.

"You know you haven't even mentioned your name and I think it would be quite awkward to call you not-Chinese-yet-still-Asian girl." Ryo's eyes widened at the title but realized it was the foreigner's way of joking.

"Ryo. Ryo Nakamori." She finally said and the French girl respectfully inclined her head.

"Well, Ryo." The accent was a bit heavy when pronouncing her name but Ryo found she didn't mind. "My name is Adalie Guillory." Even her name had a melodic quality to it.

"Did you find it?" The unexpected interruption was not only unexpected but rather unwanted for both Adalie and Ryo.

"Yes, Calandre. Of course I found it. Do you have such little faith?" She said, taking the book out of Ryo's hands. The other Beauxbaton girl, Calandre, was still walking towards the pair even though Adalie's back was to her. Adalie used this as an opportunity to scrunch up her face with displeasure. However, almost immediately the scrunched up face relaxed into a smile as Adalie turned around. But then she almost immediately whipped back around to face Ryo, and the smile blossomed into a grin that sent unexpected butterflies into Ryo's stomach.

"Hold on to this for me, please?" She said, gesturing to the book. "I'm afraid I always manage to damage books in some way and I'm just pleased to have found it."

"Now can we go?" The fake smile was back but so was the book and so Ryo clutched it tightly.

"Thank you, Ryo. I'll find you again, have no fear." There seemed to be something more to that statement but the unexpected encounter ended almost as abruptly as it began. Ryo's eyes followed the girls out the door and all she could do was blink.

So that's what the French were like?

Or, at least, one French girl in particular.

...

"So what do you think of this whole thing, Olivia?"

"I'm not sure."

"Oh?"

"Well, I love Quidditch and I can't believe I get to see Krum every day."

"And I sense some hesitancy in that tone of yours." Olivia subtly blushed at this.

"His other fan girls just get so mental! I had thought they would be interested in the actual Quidditch aspect of the whole thing, like how he's one of the youngest Quidditch players of all time or something. But instead they just chatter on and on about his hair and his eyes."

"You'd think after seven years of dealing with these girls we'd-" Elizabeth would have continued her rant if it was not for the fact that she had just tripped over her own feet.

Classic Els.

"Are you okay?" Slender, strong arms reached out and grabbed her to help the Gryffindor up.

"Oh, it's just Elizabeth. You can let her go now, Gustas."

"Why thank you for being so uncharacteristically kind, Burns." She snarked in response to this before changing her tone to a far more polite one. "I'm really quite fine, thank you, Gustas. Olivia, if you could pick up my glasses that'd be great." And once she was properly standing she received her glasses.

But she didn't receive them from Olivia.

Apparently, Burns had been attracting Durmstrang people these days because there were three of them with him. Gustas, the one probably holding her up, was not the tallest of the three but he was certainly a few centimeters above Ethan. And considering Burns was almost two meters that was an impressive feat.

"Elizabeth, Olivia, allow me to introduce a few of our foreign guests." Burns said grandly, before gesturing to each Durmstrang student. "Gustas Pinkauskas, Kazimir Utkin, and Kostya Zolnerowich, this is Elizabeth Abrams and Olivia Ellery." Elizabeth could only blink at the amount of syllables that had just been uttered.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Olivia intoned and Elizabeth nodded.

"Have you three been enjoying Hogwarts so far?"

"Other than always being asked if we are Viktor's friends it has indeed been enjoyable." At this the English part of the group laughed, albeit a bit sheepishly, at Gustas's joke while Kazimir merely rolled his eyes at the truth of the statement.

"Are you curious about the first task at all?" Asked Olivia. Kostya nodded in response, choosing to answer.

"We've heard the rumors of what it could be but it does seem like it'll be interesting to watch regardless."

"Of course it is! It's the Triwizard Tournament!" An eavesdropping Ravenclaw piped up a few meters away.

"Indeed. But we have many tournaments back home. None with so much… hype. But you get the point." Kazimir said, sparing no glance at the Ravenclaw. An awkward silence hung over the group and Elizabeth eventually nodded at this.

"Well, it was very nice meeting you guys. We'll be late to Transfiguration if we don't get a move on, unfortunately." Olivia said, slightly pulling Elizabeth's sleeve.

"Enjoy your stay at Hogwarts!" Elizabeth said, smiling as she turned to follow Olivia's lead for once.

"Do you think we will actually talk to them again?" Olivia asked, and Elizabeth smiled even more at this.

"I'm sure this is just the beginning."

...

A/N: That's pretty much all of the players in the game now so here's an official list, including even the more minor ones or the ones you won't really see till later ;)

In Gryffindor: Elizabeth Abrams (7th yr), Olivia Ellery (7th year), Mary Curtis (7th year),

Clementine Groves (7th year), Sophie Gladwyn (7th year), and Eric Rooney (7th year).

In Slytherin: Ethan Burns (7th year), Ann Hayes (7th yr), Charles Moore (7th yr), Irene Deening (6th yr), and Christina Prescott.

In Ravenclaw: Thomas Payne (7th yr), Sara Minett (7th), Emmett Clayton (6th yr), and Clara Brown (6th yr).

In Hufflepuff: Ryo Nakamori (7th yr), Daisy Brown (7th yr), and Moriah Frissell (7th yr).

Annd, our lovely foreigners: Kazimir Utkin (Durm.), Gustas Pinkauskas (Durm.), Kostya Zolnerowich (Durm.), the lovely Adalie Guillory (Beaux.), and Calandre (Beaux.)

Until next time


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Did anyone ever notice that JK did not really give that much writing to the First Task? At least, not for the other competitors. And while it makes sense, since the novels are from Harry's perspective, I am a tad disappointed because we barely hear about how the other champions fared.

And now, with that lovely hint towards this chapter, enjoy!

...

"GO CEDRIC!" All the Hufflepuffs, perhaps even most of the school, screamed as he emerged from the Champions tent.

"Ryo, you don't seem as enthused as the rest of the us." Moriah Frissell, a darker skinned Hufflepuff teased as she joined her fellow Hufflepuff in the stands.

"I think Hermione was right." Granger had been protesting this tournament from Day One and anyone that stayed in the library for more than five minutes got an earful of exactly why the Triwizard Tournament was so idiotic. And now that they were beginning to witness the First Task Ryo couldn't help but start to agree.

"Well, it certainly seems that way." Moriah added, with a glance down toward the subject of the conversation. "Speaking of Granger she seems to be berating Weasley for the time being."

"Are we really that surprised?" Ryo asked wryly. Moriah suddenly turned away from Granger and leaned toward the deadlier scene at hand, unable to truly keep her eyes away from the Swedish Short-Snout that Cedric had to face. The Hufflepuff narrowly avoided the flames of the irate dragon but it had been far too close for the crowd's comfort. Ryo couldn't even take a short glimpse of what was going on because she was far too busy staring at the ground, trying to ignore the painful sounds that unpleasantly swirled around her ears.

A smooth hand suddenly touched her shoulder gingerly. Ryo almost flinched at the surprise but, nonetheless, looked up to discover Adalie's beautiful eyes for the third time this year. The French girl had already reclaimed her history book a few weeks go and Ryo was surprised to find that she was rather pleased to see her again for seemingly no reason.

"May I join you?" Ryo blinked at the question before realizing that Adalie was going to leave if she didn't respond.

"Sure." Was her voice more hesitant than normal or was that just her?

Another scream erupted from the crowd and Ryo jumped straight into Adalie's arms. The Beauxbaton student smiled at this before the Hufflepuff realized exactly what she had done.

"Sorry about that." She said as she untangled herself from the warmer girl.

"It's quite alright." The French girl said, resisting the urge to widen her smile at this. Ryo went back to staring at the ground and Adalie just observed this for a few moments.

"You can hold my hand if you'd like."

...

As Fleur Delacour walked out from the tent Ethan applauded fervently. Sure, she's not his type, considering no girl actually be his type but that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate the beauty of the Veela. Elizabeth could only shake her head in disbelief at his applause.

The Slytherin was sitting a row behind her with Gustas on his left and Ann on his right. Olivia was on Elizabeth's left while Kostya had taken the spot on her right. Kazimir one person away from Elizabeth, having _accidentally_ chosen to sit next to the Olivia, much to Elizabeth's delight.

"Really, Burns," She said, turning around and using Ethan as an excuse not to look at Fleur's battle with the dragon. She had already almost lost the contents of her stomach when she had tried to watch Cedric. "She's not from Slytherin and she's not even from Durmstrang!"

"I think I can applaud any Champion that actually walks out of the tent. It just shows they are deserving of the title and that-"

"Don't look now," Kostya murmured into her ear and Elizabeth froze, leaning into his shoulder. She was quite resolved to keep her back to Fleur and so she focused on the sound of her breathing, being rather grateful for the fair warning.

Finally, the gasps of relief and the eventual cheers that rose from the crowd gave her permission to breathe.

And if her hand was still clutching Kostya's, as it had been from his slight warning, she'd never tell.

"Thanks, Zol." Kostya wasn't too difficult to say but she just liked the sound of Zol much more.

Besides, he didn't seem to mind the nickname.

More screams filled the space but Elizabeth had lost nearly all curiosity when it came to watching the First Task once Cedric Diggory nearly lost his life.

"Please distract me." She could coldly kill a spider or face Professor Snape without any support but she drew the line at dragons.

And so Kostya did distract her. He leaned in a bit more and began to whisper tales that he had heard growing up and stories of his adventures at Durmstrang. In turn she traded some of her own stories, once she found she could calmly breathe again.

And soon the petrifying screech of the dragon became a faint hum.

...

Olivia glanced over at Kazimir as the First Task carried on. She found herself focused on the dragon, not the Champions, as each took a turn against their respective dragon.

 _What could it possibly be like to live a life in captivity? To have the only equivalent of freedom be a day like this?_

Because this was not what Olivia would consider freedom.

"I always find these sorts of things to be quite interesting." Kazimir finally commented on the First Task and she resisted the urge to sarcastically respond.

"I mean," He continued, oblivious to Olivia. "People are addicted to dangerous situations and what else is more dangerous than letting a captive dragon free?"

 _Really? I had no idea that this was_ such _a dangerous idea. No idea at all. And, by the way, the dragon is not free, not in the slightest. That dragon will never truly be free._

"Sorry, didn't quite catch that?" Olivia blinked before realizing that she had probably spoken some of her thoughts aloud.

"Nothing, Kazimir. I was just thinking to myself. Probably said something aloud."

Thomas had lost interest in being a Champion once he saw exactly what they had to face.

But there was an alternative to looking at Sara, who knew that he no longer had a desire to be in such danger, and so he took it. He decided to people watch instead.

Ravenclaws aren't always good with books. However, they're almost always excellent with multi-tasking.

 _Speaking of multi-tasking_ , Thomas thought to himself as he turned his gaze away from the First Task and towards a certain Slytherin. Irene Deening, a younger student that he had the occasional interaction with, was sitting next to Eric Rooney, someone he considered to be quite the idiotic Gryffindor.

Was that an arm Rooney was trying to sneak around her?

 _How dare—_

...

"Are you quite alright, Kazimir?" Olivia asked as the boy had suddenly let out a scream. The Durmstrang student had been given quite the scare when the dragon's fire had come quite close to the audience. So, quite logically, Kazimir let out a shriek.

And it took all of Olivia's willpower to not cackle at the sight.

"We never speak of this again." Eventually came the dark murmur.

"ERIC ROONEY! Did you seriously just use a dragon as an excuse to cop a feel?!"

Thomas's eyes darted from the scared Durmstrang student back to Irene. He grinned at the sound of her righteous anger and gave her a small applause as she slapped the Gryffindor as Rooney seemed to be attempting to get out of the awkward situation.

 _That's my Irene._

...

"So Harry Potter shocked the stadium once again, is anyone truly surprised?"

"Oh, hush you." Ann smirked quite openly at this respond.

"So what were you and _Zol_ talking about today?" Elizabeth's eyes widened at her suggestive tone, immediately going on the defensive. Ann ignored all the remarks that Elizabeth tried to make as the Slytherin opted for a good old fashion cackle.

"I hear it's rather difficult being that close to the river of denial." Ann eventually said as Elizabeth settled for glaring.

"I'm not even going to acknowledge that terrible pun."

"But isn't your response acknowledging it?"

Today was turning into such a delightful day.

At least, for Ann Hayes it was.

...

A/N: So there's may be a bit of romance around ;)

I fair warn you now that, while romance will be hinted at here and there, I don't do explicit. If there's anything it'll really only be T-material (certainly not M). I also don't believe all the girls _need_ to be in love and I certainly can't write these relationships to be perfect. And now that you've been fair warned,

Till next time!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: We have more references to the book sprinkled in this chapter! Also, I believe it's the only chapter that doesn't change in perspective.

Enjoy!

"So how bout those Canary Creams?"

"Not funny, _Els_." It was a rare time indeed that Elizabeth didn't smack her for the use of a nickname.

"You must admit your face was worth every sickle, Ann."

"No I most certainly do not have to admit that, especially since it wasn't true." Ann grumbled at this before she realized she still had verbal artillery. "At least I didn't have to rely on _Zol_ to catch me on the stairs today."

"Not fair!"

"Totally fair!"

"Totally not fair!"

"Absolutely, completely fair!

"Well, considering I'm quite clumsy-"

"You always do seem to be a little bit more clumsy whenever you're near him." Ann looked through the hallway they were chattering away in and her grin grew. "Oh, hey, Kostya!"

"Very funny, Ann. You do realize that we're not in a novel right?"

"Ahh," A familiar voice interjected and Elizabeth stiffened at the sound. "But this is a school of magic and magic does bring the occasional miracle." Ethan slid in between the two girls. Elizabeth looked behind him and relaxed a fraction when she realized he was by himself today.

"So where are your Durmstrang boys today, Ethan?"

"Kazimir caught some sort of bug so they're making sure he's taken care of."

"Sounds rather dangerous when you say it like that. Is he alright?" Elizabeth said but Ann merely smiled at Elizabeth's stalling tactic. She knew that the Gryffindor was indeed concerned about Kazimir but said Gryffindor also really didn't want to deal with the two most gossipy students in the school when they were bored. And boredom was most definitely how Ann was currently feeling.

"Speaking of being taken care of," Ann put a halt to that conversation, gaining both Ethan's and Elizabeth's attention. "Do either of you have a date for the Yule Ball?"

 _Now why did both of them look away at the sound of that question? Curiouser and curiouser._

"You know me, Ann," Elizabeth said arching an eyebrow at the question and yet also smiling inwardly at the thought of dressing up. "I always go stag."

"And you, Ethan?" The question shook him out of his thoughts but he still seemed disinterested in a topic he would normally be all over.

"I think I'll just go with friends this time."

"You surprise me, Ethan." Ann complained, although now she was getting concerned about the boy. Granted, the two had never been the closest of friends but that didn't mean Ann couldn't be concerned about him from time to time.

"Are you taking anyone?" Elizabeth asked, turning the question back on the asker, and Ann could only smile at this.

"While the concept is neat, I prefer to just dance with friends." Ethan made no response to this, and Ann's smile turned into a frown. She had purposefully made a small remark that reeked of hypocrisy and there was still no reaction, not even a distracted sassy remark. She held up a hand to silence Elizabeth because now she had a little social test to run.

"You know, I hear America is a fantastic place to runaway to. Care to come to Alaska and help me make babies?" Elizabeth blinked at this but Ann had been directing the question towards Ethan. Who continued to make no response.

"I have secretly been in love with Harry Potter for four years but have been engaging in carnal acts with Draco Malfoy for only one."

Nothing.

"I've always despised the fact that you are incredibly self absorbed."

Not even a blink of acknowledgment.

"Alright, you've failed the attention test and now this is just getting creepy." Ann huffed and grabbed Ethan by the wrist. He jolted back to reality but by that point she was already dragging him down the corridor. Elizabeth merely watched on in curiosity for a few moments before deciding that the situation probably required her in some way.

 _The needs of the many and all that jazz,_ She thought before beginning to walk.

The bemused Gryffindor followed the two Slytherins down a few corridors until Ann found what she seemed to be looking for: an unused classroom. Elizabeth moved to sit on top of a desk near the door while Ann forced Ethan to lean against desks closer to the front of the room as she took her spot sitting on the dusty Professor's desk. And once the trio was situated the awkward silence was hastily swept away to make room for an awkward interrogation.

"Alright, will you please tell us what's up?" Ethan looked up from examining the floor as unshed tears began to form.

"It's more what's not up."

"And what does that mean?" He needed no further permission to elaborate.

"I'm _always_ the chaser! I've been giving Gustas hints for weeks that I'm interested, probably to the point where he thinks I'm easy. I've grazed his arm in the hall, asked him about his day more than once, flirted with him, helped him with homework, and, really, I don't do any of those that often!"

"You always flirt with people quite often, Ethan." But Ann's remark went unnoticed by the boy.

"Why can't _I_ be the one people want to seduce? Why can't I experience _love_?"

"Seduction isn't real love, Burns, so I'm not really sure why you want it considering you've always said you were a hopeless romantic." Elizabeth finally got one word in a conversation and she also threw off both Ann and Ethan, something that was indeed quite a rarity. "Seduction is just a challenge, an adrenaline rush that only touches your veins not your heart. If you want genuine love then I must ask you something: have you outright told him your want? It's not a crime if you just want to make the relationship all about shagging. Chasing, seduction, that all tends to fall into the lust department but that doesn't mean you're a bad person. It just means you're not looking for commitment, you're not interested in the connections some people dream about. But love," She let the sentence fall, waiting for the inevitable interruption from either Ann or Ethan.

But both her classmates were transfixed by her unexpected advice and so she charged forward, refusing to hold back for once. "Love is a lot different, Burns. And I know you know that but that doesn't mean you don't forget it sometimes. Because sometimes people forget what seems like common sense. Sometimes they take for granted the things they've been told and forget to take it to heart. And sometimes they beg for one thing when they would much rather have something else.

"So, let me ask you another question: have you actually walked up to him? Have you grabbed his hands, and have you forced him to face you so that your eyes are only centimeters apart? Have you outright asked him to be yours? Actions speak louder than words but in this instance your words are going to speak quite loudly if you let them. Because if you want real love, not fervent flirtations, you'll have to express it. Not in mindless touches, not with seductive glances, and not with coy smiles that project a level of innocence nowhere near yours. If you want legitimate love you're going to have to let words flow out no matter how awkward they feel. You may accidentally say 'density' instead of 'destiny', you may be blushing redder than Pepper-up potion, but it's not love if you can't express it in some way." She took another breath and hopped off the desk she had been sitting at, looking away from her stunned audience with a regretful smile.

"And if you actually have done all of that then I can actually believe you really have done everything to give a hint."

By this point, Elizabeth reaches out to hold his wrists before shifting to slide her palms into his. Caramel eyes turn away from the wall to stare into speechless mud brown and for a good minute Elizabeth can pretend she's talking to someone else entirely.

Someone she hadn't been this close to in quite a while.

"Where in the world did all that come from, Elizabeth?" Ann eventually inquired and her tone brought Elizabeth back to reality. Something suddenly inside her seemed to snap back to normalcy and she turned with a far more neutral expression.

"I've done some thinking, that's all."

"Was that all about Kostya?" She blinked at this, quite mystified by the question.

"Where'd you get that idea, Burns?" And suddenly she realized it was Burns that was holding her hands and not someone else. Elizabeth promptly removed her hands, as though they burned, and she took a step away from Ethan.

"Well, you two seemed rather close for a someone who apparently doesn't have a crush on the boy."

"Ann, I see him more like a brother. The thought of being in love with him is rather… let's just not talk about that, shall we?"

"If that whole spiel wasn't about Kostya then where did that come from?" Elizabeth shrugged at the intrigued question.

"Must've been one of those novels Sophie has shared with me."

"That came from your heart, not a novel."

"Well, that's also the only explanation you two are going to get."

"For now that is."

"But we have ways of making Gryffindors talk." Ethan deadpanned and the trio smiled at one another for a good moment.

That is before the two Slytherins got down to business.

"So," Ann started as Ethan went to guard the door.

"If Olivia sees that I'm missing she will connect the dots, I'll have you know!"

"And she'll completely understand." Ethan said as Ann stood closer than before.

Elizabeth was now essentially playing monkey in the middle, however, neither one of her delightful friends wanted to give her even the smallest of breaks.

"Think of this as karma, considering what occurred last year."

"Ann, that was an entirely different situation. Besides, you don't even believe in karma."

"Your point, Elizabeth?"

"You don't have a crush on Gustas, right?"

"At least some things in the world are still consistent even in these troubling times."

"Stop stalling and spill the Bertie Botts."

"Ann, how does that phrase even work?"

"Elizabeth, what did we say happens to those that stall the inevitable?"

"You wouldn't dare tickle me."

"Who said anything about tickling? I could just shove you into a closet with every guy in Hogwarts until you finally worked out your suppressed feelings."

"Can't I just be a hopeless romantic that doesn't have a crush?"

"Definitely not." Came the firm response.

"Note to self," Elizabeth said as she began to feel hints of peer pressure. "Make friends with Hufflepuffs not Slytherins."

"Oh, Elizabeth, Hufflepuffs are just finders of a different kind. They'd still get it all out of you, they'd probably just be a lot nicer about it."

"Thanks, Ann. That was incredibly reassuring."

"Anytime, Elizabeth. Now spill."

A/N: Although I'm sure Elizabeth's crush is obvious (or will soon be obvious) I'm pleased to say it's not Kostya she's crushing on.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: One more chapter pre-Yule Ball and then it's time to get dancing! There's also a few Easter Eggs in this one ;)

Enjoy!

...

"Abort mission! I repeat, abort!"

"The Phoenix has spotted us. I repeat, the Phoenix has spotted us!"

"Umm… guys?"

Ryo peeked through the bookshelves to get a better look at the obvious connivers. Or rather, one clear conniver and one friend unwillingly roped into whatever "mission" they were on.

Elizabeth stood up sheepishly from her hiding spot, dragging Olivia up with her. The Yule Ball was now only a few weeks away and people were getting asked out left and right. Now the school was converging on all those that were still dateless and it was becoming more and more socially unacceptable.

Fortunately, friends exist to remedy situations like these.

"Well, you see, Ryo,"

"We simply just wanted-"

"Guys." Ryo repeated, slightly irritated.

"Ryo? Is there some book you see that will work even better?" The irritation faded away only for a brief moment at the sound of Adalie's voice. And then it was back to a passionate glare that spoke much more clearly than any lecture would.

"Can't you guys see that I'm a little busy?" After the the First Task Adalie confessed to being rather clueless about British Wizarding culture. And Ryo admitted that she was also oblivious to French equivalent.

And so they began to have biweekly meetings in the library in which the pair would switch on and off with their explanations. It had started out as a poor excuse for company but soon became a pleasant routine that neither girl wanted to stop any time soon.

"Well, we were just wondering if you were going to ask your friend to the Yule Ball? Adele was her name, right?"

"Adalie's her name and we are already going to the Yule Ball together."  
"Really? That's great!"

" _As friends_." Ryo emphasized with a slight smirk.

"But-"

"Now, if you'll excuse me." It wasn't a request or a pardon, no matter how politely the Asian phrase it. Ryo left the sheepish pair and returned to Adalie's side.

"So how are Elizabeth and Olivia today?" Ryo merely chuckled at this, not surprised in the slightest that Adalie knew the whole time who she had been talking to.

"Quite well, actually."

...

"Thomas?" Came the expecting voice. As the bell rang he stood up and closed his eyes for a short moment before summoning the smile that Thomas knew he no longer cared for.

"Sara," He began before pulling out freshly conjured roses from his bag. "I know this isn't much but I know we can have so much more. Will you please give the honor of accompanying me to the Yule Ball?"

Everyone already knew the answer yet girls still looked on with tears forming. Fellow peers nodded in approval as the couple embraced. Sara grinned with all her might as she clutched the flowers, basking in the glow of attention. Her strained smile, one that had been tormenting her face as of late, had become a genuine grin of approval.

All was well for her.

For him, it would be another story.

...

"Are you alright, Clara?" Clara Brown, of no relation to Daisy Brown, smiled at her companion as they walked to class.

"Quite alright." Came the confident response even though the asker still looked unassured.

"Is there anything wrong, Emmett?" Emmett Clayton, a sixth year Ravenclaw, merely shook his head in response.

"Nothing, Clara. Just thinking a little."

"Anything in particular?"  
"Not really." _Just thinking about you again,_ came the wistful thought as he avoided the question.

Unfortunately, he certainly was struggling these days. The Yule Ball, an event that didn't really appeal to him in the slightest, was coming around the corner and each day Emmett was reminded of why he belonged in Ravenclaw and not Gryffindor.

The problem is that he's really had ample opportunity to ask his best friend to accompany him to the dance and yet he still has found himself unable to even bring up the subject.

"Can you believe how many people are excited for the Yule Ball?" Clara asked eventually and Emmett stiffened.

"Oh?" He tried to feign stupidity. She simply raised a wry eyebrow at this.

"Emmett, you may hide behind books all the time but even you cannot be oblivious to the school's excitement about the dance."

 _But I can try_.

"Well, I'll admit I have heard more about the Yule Ball than I probably want to."

"Then I guess you're not asking anyone to it, are you?" He stiffened further at the thought, embarrassed to admit that he only wanted to ask one particular person.

One particular person that would undoubtedly reject him.

"No, I don't think I will ask anyone."

"Oh. Well, then again, dances don't really seem to be your type of event." He almost smiled at this.

"I'd probably make a fool of myself either way."

"What makes you say that?" Emmett hesitated before answering this particular question.

"I'm not really sure how to dance."

"I could teach you, it's just like learning a language."

"How's it like a language? And I don't know any languages other than English, Clara."

"You know Physics. And Chemistry." He smiled at this, acknowledging that science could be interpreted as another language altogether.

"I supposed so. But that's because science comes to me naturally." And, being a muggleborn, Emmett really couldn't rely on magic when he was growing up.

"Dancing can come just as naturally if you just let it, Emmett." _How did she know I can't resist any proposition of hers if she just uses my first name?_

"I guess I'll have to consider it, Clara." Her smile came back and he couldn't resist emulating the action.

"Good."

 _What was he getting himself into?_

 _..._

 _Do I regret this?  
Yes._

 _Is it also a necessary evil?  
Unfortunately._

Olivia looked at her enemy with a feeling of disdain. However, she had no time to be hesitant.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures" She murmured irritably before snatching up the magazine off of her dorm mate's dresser. She quickly skimmed the pages, before mentally barfing at some of the captions.

"Enchant your friends with these bargains."

"Bewitch your Beloved in blue!"

"Cast a Cherry Red spell on the love of your life."

"Brew a night of romance for only fourteen sickles!"

Well, Olivia had to concede that searching through a magazine beat shopping at Hogsmeade.

Especially if any of her dorm mates were nearby.

...

A/N: Now while Clara and Emmett won't be making a regular appearance I do love the pairing (bonus points to the readers that know what fandom I'm making a reference to ^_^)

Also, I do know that this was a tad shorter than normal. However, I can assure you the next chapter will most definitely be longer ;)

Till next time!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: It is time for the lovely Yule Ball. Unfortunately, I had to split it up into two chapters but FF was being rather silly so there's nothing to be done about that.

Enjoy! :D

...

"Of all the bloody times you could have decided to screw up, this is it?"

Romilda Vane's screeching never failed to please Olivia. Perhaps that was wrong of her to say but as she passed the second years' dormitory it seemed quite appropriate. Olivia glanced over at the closed door as Romilda's frustrations grew in quality if not sound.

Those were some pretty damn powerful words for a twelve-year old. Granted, the Yule Ball did seem to be one of those "once in a lifetime" events that brought out the crazy in everyone.

Fortunately, Olivia had been struck with only a minor dose of insanity and so she had put in far less energy into the concept of the Yule Ball than most of her classmates.

...

As she slid the soft material over her head Elizabeth realized she could barely contain her nerves. Her legs seemed extra twitchy today and she had no desire to stop her smile from widening in excitement as she slipped the simple white heels on.

Lifting her mother's jewelry, carefully mailed from home, Elizabeth felt the fabric charmingly swish around her ankles with every step she took. Her shoulders naturally rolled back with ease and Elizabeth knew that dressing up was going to undoubtedly be her favorite part of tonight.

As the Gryffindor curled half of her hair, using a neat little charm from Witch's Weekly, the door to the dormitory opened but whoever it was didn't enter the room.

"You look so beautiful, Elizabeth!" Olivia said and Elizabeth couldn't stop beaming at the compliment.

"Thank you, Olivia. Now step into the room because it's your turn to get dressed up!" Normally, Olivia never cared for dances, dresses, or 'once in a lifetime' dreams but as she saw how elated Elizabeth was Olivia knew she could hold off her normal thoughts for just this once.

...

As Ryo cautiously walked into the hall she looked around for any familiar face. The normally straight lines blurred into blobs as the young woman had decided to ditch her glasses for this.

 _Probably a mistake._

 _No, wait. Definitely a mistake._

 _I do believe there was more than one reason I wasn't put in Ravenclaw and tonight's definitely proving that._

Yet her self-berating came to a halt as soft, familiar hands placed themselves her eyes carefully and she heard the smallest giggle from behind.

"Adalie!" She started to complain, grateful if only because Adalie knew better than to smudge or smear her make up. The dainty hands dropped and Ryo turned, intrigued to see how her friend looked tonight.

Adalie wore pale pink robes that helped to accentuate her figure. They fell to the floor and the material clung to her pale skin almost playfully. Her light brown had been let down today in pleasant curls that framed her face quite nicely.

"Wow," Ryo breathed, for even though her vision was impaired the Asian recognized the beauty that stood before her. Adalie twirled around in a full circle, blushing.

"That bad?" She teased.

...

When Adalie first saw her mahogany-haired beauty she had stumbled and gaped in a most unflattering fashion. Fortunately, Ryo was completely oblivious to her presence.

To be fair, Adalie was a decent amount of meters in front of Ryo and there were other students between them. However, there was something else that was off with this picture. And once Adalie realized what was missing she smiled to herself before taking out her wand to rectify the situation.

"Accio glasses." She whispered, vividly remembering the delicate black frames that typically rested on her friend's nose. She knew, from stories that Ryo shared about the dorms, that the door to the seventh year dorm was almost always open. She also knew that there were people still arriving to the Yule Ball and so the entrance to the Hufflepuff Common Room was going to be opened still. So, even if it took more than a few minutes for the glasses to be summoned they would eventually arrive.

Carefully stepping around the crowd of dressed up students, Adalie approached Ryo from behind, intending to surprise her.

"Adalie!" A shrill voice cried. Adalie suppressed the shudder she had at the sound of Calandre's voice. She turned briefly around to wave and shoo Calandre towards someone else before approaching Ryo once more. Although Calandre did not take kindly to the clear disinterest Adalie held Adalie was definitely not interested in dealing with such a petty person tonight and so Calandre walked away to badger someone who actually would listen.

Her eyes refocused on the stunning rouge before her and Adalie nearly stumbled once more over her own robes as she tried to process the gorgeous transformation Ryo had made. Ryo was always beautiful, in a sweet, shy fashion, but this was the Hufflepuff allowing her beauty to glow much brighter than normal.

With her hand still gripping her wand Adalie almost forgot about the glasses until they bumped into her. The French girl's smile grew at the sight and she pocketed Ryo's glasses while simultaneously thanking the designer of her robes for adding pockets.

Carefully she lifted her trembling hands over her friend's head to go in front of Ryo's beautiful brown eyes. Her intention was not to ruin Ryo's make-up but to pleasantly surprise the shy Hufflepuff. And Adalie clearly succeeded as Ryo gave a slight jump at the unexpected action but did not run away or suddenly whack the Beauxbaton student in irritation.

"Adalie!" But behind the complaint were hints of pleasure. The French girl grinned, dropping her hands. Ryo slowly turned and Adalie felt her blush grow.

"Wow," Pure admiration dripped out of the Asian's mouth and wrapped itself around Adalie in a loving hug as she spun once around, enjoying the glorious feeling of her dress robes flaring out from under.

"That bad?" She asked but Ryo's retort was lost as an ignorant student collided into the Asian unapologetically, causing the poor girl to stumble into Adalie's outstretched arms. They were locked in some attempt at an embrace and when the pair pulled away both girls were definitely blushing.

"That reminds me." Adalie said, leaping to a different topic even if she enjoyed the last subject. However, she could tell Ryo was rather mortified and so Adalie did the noble thing by reaching into her pockets to retrieve Ryo's glasses.

"One of your roommates gave them to me. She thought you had accidentally left them behind."

"Oh? Thank you."

They awkwardly stood together for a few more moments in painful silence.

"Do you think it'll get started soon?"

...

Ethan could hardly contain his happiness as he picked out Gustas from the group of Durmstrang students. Ethan himself was decked out in dark grey dress robes with a Slytherin-green bowtie to accent the piece. His black hair was styled neatly and his black frames shined a bit more than normal tonight.

And though it would be inconvenient to corner Gustas just yet Ethan had full intentions of doing so sometime tonight. As Elizabeth's surprisingly romantic words spun around his mind for the millionth time he became even more determined to at least get a good snog, if not a dance, out of the man.

Girls weren't the only ones who deserved a night that was just as splendid as a fairytale.

...

"Darling, you really should just let him go."

"Look, Christina, we're going to be late if we continue this conversation." Sara sighed before looking over at her Slytherin friend. Christina, decked in jeans and a simple sweater, merely rolled her eyes.

"You mean you're going to be late, remember? I'm not going to this dance." Something that still bugged Sara but she let it go.

"Indeed." The Ravenclaw responded, maintaining an even tone.

"Well, anyway, like I said: you need to let him go. He's wrecking up your life, he's a jerk, and you don't need him." Sara contemplated this. Her eyes were close to brimming with tears and she glanced back at her best friend of six years.

"Tom just doesn't understand I can't be the person he wants!" She said, frowning at how often they clashed.

But they were also so very very happy.

Weren't they?

"You've explained it to him before right?" She gave a slight nod to this question. "So then the twat – and I'm not gonna apologize for calling him that because that is what he is – clearly needs to go."

"If anyone needs to go, it's me." The Ravenclaw responded quietly. "And I don't mean like that. I mean that I need to get to the dance if I want to be on time."

...

 _Well, at least_ I'm _on time._

Clara had couldn't resist a smile at the grape purple dress robes she had decided to wear to the Yule Ball. She felt quite smashing in them and that's really all that mattered right?

The only thing that felt wrong was that her best friend was nowhere in sight. She had checked the hall earlier but Emmett, even after their few dance lessons together, seemed to have abandoned the theory that he could possibly enjoy the Yule Ball.

Clara frowned at this, beginning to lose the giddiness that had filled her heart. But it didn't really matter because she was going to enjoy the night without him.

 _Well, I supposed that's just his lost isn't it?_

"I do hope I didn't miss anything too interesting." She hardly jumped on the outside but her heart was spinning with delight on the inside at the unexpected sound of her very good friend's voice.

"Dinner hasn't started yet if that's what you mean." She coolly responded, barely giving him a glance.

"Oh," He said but something else seemed to be on his mind.

"Are you quite alright, Emmett?" He hesitated for once before responding to this question.

"Well, I know that the dance hasn't officially started if dinner hasn't even been served. However, I was wondering if I could perhaps give my language lessons a real test? With you, that is." She softly smiled at this and the cold exterior soon melted away.

 _So you're not going to run away after all._

"I would be delighted to help you test out this particular experiment. But only after dinner."

...

Dinner. A time of food stains and inappropritately-timed spills. A saucy disaster prepared to crash and burn at any given time.

Irene Deening pushed back her mousy brown locks to watch a fiasco in the making: Eliot Baxter was trying to raise a pork chop off his plate. Unfortunately, said pork chop seemed to be a sauce that dripped all over his plate and even on to the table.

 _How… cute._ Came the sarcastic thought.

Turning to her right, she noticed Thomas Payne also seemed to be observing the train wreck in the making. Irene caught his eyes and they both seemed to mentally agree on one thing: don't order the pork chops.

And if actual conversation between the two occurred later, Irene would never tell. It wasn't as though she had had a crush on Thomas Payne for the last few years.

Besides, it was pure coincidence that they were sitting next to one another. Thomas Payne, and his date Sara, had chosen to sit at their seats _after_ Irene had already staked her claim.

Not that she minded in the slightest.

...

"Poor Potter."

"Poor Parvati is more like it."

...

A/N: I do hope you enjoyed some of the puns and references I made in chapter. On to part 2!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: And the Yule Ball continues! :D

…

"I cannot believe such a darling girl doesn't have a partner on a night like this!"

"Well," A charming redhead looked up at the Durmstrang student with a small smile. "I suppose everyone else realizes a lost cause when they see one."  
"I wouldn't be so sure of that." He reached out an arm and lifted her gently to her feet, bringing her far closer to him than necessary. The girl's smile grew at this and soon turned into a sneer.

"If you do not remove your hand from my arse you're going to feel so much pain you'll wish you were waltzing with a troll." Ann threatened the boy, bringing up her wand to his face to show him that she was quite serious.

She was immediately released.

"Thanks, _darling_." She said before shoving him mercilessly into the crowd.

"Nicely played, Hayes."

"Sod off, Malfoy."

…

"What's wrong, Sara?" He held her in his arms, he genuinely complimented her as she walked into the hall, but Thomas knew something was wrong.

They were dancing together but there seemed to an emotional barrier of some kind blocking any sort of connection.

"Nothing, Thomas. Nothing is wrong." She merely snuggled deeper into his chest, using this as a means to hide her tears. "Everything's perfect."

He didn't believe her for a second.

…

He had been searching the room for her impatiently. He thought he saw her earlier, however, it was a mistake he didn't intend to make again.

"Zol?" So that _was_ her, decked out in the stunning robes. Her twin, some Beauxbaton girl with only half her brain, had almost tricked him but that scene is now in the past.

Charles turned to watch the scene disdainfully as he had finally spotted her in the crowd. And, of course, she was with _him_ again and even though Charles Moore and Elizabeth Abrams hadn't spoken more than three words since their fourth year, a hint of jealousy grew at this clearly disgusting parade of puppy love.

"Charles?" Daisy Brown, his girlfriend of almost three years, was standing to the side. Her darker skin, accentuated by gorgeous rose red dress robes, glowed tonight and her messy copper curls were put up in an elegant bun. But her gingerbread eyes showed signs of concern for she had observed no smile on her boyfriend tonight.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Dais." He said tersely before willing himself to focus on the real priorities tonight. He forced a smile and turned back to his date but she was unimpressed.

"Shall we dance, then?"

"Only if we stop by Elizabeth afterwards. All you need to say is that you missed talking to an old friend. No need to pretend everything's alright."

He was surprised at how astute that observation was. However, he really shouldn't be. Just because Daisy Brown was a Hufflepuff did not mean, contrary to stereotypes, that she was guaranteed to be idiot.

As they walked out onto the dance floor she smiled sadly at him.

"I miss her too." They both remembered good old days were there was just a happy trio and no romance in sight.

…

Elizabeth had walked forward and cautiously tapped her Durmstrang friend on the shoulder. Kostya turned and eagerly drank in the sight of her. His heart began to march to an erratic cadence and his stomach seemed to curl in fear because he had no idea what they were supposed to do next. Dark auburn hair was softly pulled back even though obstinate, _beautiful_ , wisps still escaped. A countenance normally hinting of stress was carefree tonight. And a body that typically hid behind school robes was illuminated by glowing teal dress robes for all the world to see.

…

Elizabeth couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed as Kostya only blinked in recognition when he finally saw her. She had noticed him rather early on but he apparently had been paying her no mind.

 _No matter, at least we're not on a date_.

…

"So," Kostya finally said, unsure of exactly what to say.

"So," Elizabeth echoed as the pair sat down in comfortable chairs near the dance floor. They avoided each others' gazes and chose to instead focus on the surroundings.

"Kostya!" A breathless voice came over. A giddy brunette, some girl from Ravenclaw if Elizabeth remembered correctly, dressed in skin tight scarlet dress robes, complete with a plunging neckline, approached the pair. "Would you mind giving me the next dance?"

"I-uh," Kostya couldn't quite process her request as he was trying to not stare at anything other than her face. He heard a snort from the side and noticed Elizabeth once more.

"Go on, have some fun. Bask in the glory of being a foreigner." She said with a smirk.

And even though he had no interest in dancing with Evalina O'Brien he did know that Elizabeth wasn't jealous of the situation in the slightest and didn't mind at all.

 _She probably sees us as just friends and nothing more._

"If you insist." He eventually murmured to Elizabeth and she nodded.

"I do indeed insist." She said, shooing him away into the company of the attractive Ravenclaw.

And it was only when Kostya allowed himself to be dragged away that Elizabeth allowed herself a strained smile at the sight. She waited for him to be completely out of sight, and earshot for that matter, before a sigh escaped and the smile was wiped away by an irritated expression.

"Why emotions have to be so damn confusing, only Merlin knows." The Gryffindor muttered, now aimlessly looking into the crowd of teenagers in front of her.

Because she wasn't jealous. She didn't truly see him as anything more than a brother.

And yet she did. Which, in Elizabeth's opinion, was rather weird because one's brother should probably never be one's boyfriend.

…

"Now I remember why I hate these events." Ryo groaned from the table she and Adalie occupied. Adalie comfortingly rubbed her shoulders, all in the name of friendship.

"And why is that, Ryo?"

"Too much energy. And definitely far too much noise." Ryo shut her eyes, a headache already beginning to turn into a throbbing migraine.

Familiar arms stopped rubbing her shoulders and chose to instead wrap themselves around her as a voice began to murmur sweet nothings, unsurprisingly in French. Adalie soon helped Ryo to her feet and the two managed to leave the room. Ryo could only focus on fighting the growing pain inside her head but soon the cacophony of music and voices stopped and she could properly breathe again.

The invigorating cool air gently pried her eyes open once more and she inhaled deeply, relieved to have found peace so much more quickly than normal.

"Better?" A lovely voice, definitely the voice of angels, asked and Ryo received a gentle hug once she nodded. Looking up, Ryo found the stars to be much easier on the eyes than she expected.

"Ryo?" The voice whispered, containing a different tone than before.

"Yes, Adalie?" She asked, turning—

Soft lips pressed into her own and Ryo stopped thinking as all traces of her pain left almost immediately.

 _…_ _So this is how the French… French._

No faraway stars could distract the Asian now because she was now experiencing the joy of being kissed by a star far more beautiful than any in the sky.

And now she had some mandatory cultural exploration to begin.

Perhaps they could consider tonight to be just another lesson, using lips as mentors instead of textbooks?

…

"Elizabeth! How long has it been since we've had a proper conversation?" The Gryffindor in question straightened up at the sound of Daisy Brown's voice. For, these days, if Daisy Brown was nearby then that meant _he_ was as well.

"You know, I'm no longer sure myself. But it's definitely been a while, Daisy." Elizabeth said, keeping an even tone as she looked up to see both of her former best friends.

 _Well, I should feel surprised but I'm really not._ She thought to herself with inward sigh. Daisy was sweetly meeting her gaze, quite oblivious to the awkward air as per usual, but Charles was firmly avoiding it. She coldly smiled at this observation, keeping her expression free of any obvious disdain.

 _It's nothing personal, Daisy, I just don't want to deal with you and your_ lovely _boyfriend tonight._

"It's got to at least be a few years, right, Moore?" He merely nodded at this. Daisy turned towards him.

"Charles, could you be a dear and snag us a few more drinks? I've seemed to have misplaced mine and I think Elizabeth didn't even have one to start." He immediately hurried away to get the drinks as she politely requested and when Daisy turned back to Elizabeth, the friendly air was still there but there were undertones of exhaustion hinting under it.

"I never understood why you two stopped talking. You and I still continue to do so in class from time to time." Elizabeth's colder smile shifted to something that was a little warmer but she was still quite defensive about this particular subject.

"I supposed we just sort of lost touch with one another. You know that occasionally happens."

"Not in the way it seemed to with you two." Daisy argued, and Elizabeth glanced over at her old friend with slight confusion.

It seemed Daisy did gain some more knowledge than expected over the past few years. However, the moment of pondering left the Hufflepuff almost as quickly as it came.

"Can you take one dance with Charles tonight? I'm afraid he's better at staying on his feet longer than me." Elizabeth glanced over at Daisy, resisting the urge to gape like a codfish in disbelief. Her old friend, and the girlfriend of a very old and very stupid crush, was actually suggesting that she dance with Charles of all people?

 _And just when things were beginning to feel less awkward_.

"But he's your boyfriend."

"And he was your friend. Still is, if you guys ever patch up whatever happened." _Well, that would certainly not be happening tonight,_ Elizabeth thought to herself darkly. She knew how stubborn he was and Elizabeth was certainly not in the mood to deal with such obstinacy tonight.

The Slytherin rarely gave in to being wrong, even when he was undoubtedly in the wrong. And even though nobody was truly wrong, in this particular situation, that didn't mean blame was likely to be thrown at someone.

"Ahh, thank you, Charles!" Daisy gave him a quick peck on the cheek for returning with the drinks he volunteered to get. He handed her both the drinks, refusing to even glance at Elizabeth.

"Yes, thank you, Charles." Elizabeth muttered as she accepted her drink. It was quite refreshing, whatever the fruity concoction was. She cast the random thought aside because Elizabeth knew her brain was merely trying to distract her from getting out of the awkward situation that had arisen once again when Charles came back.

"If you two don't, at the very least, hug and maintain eye contact for more than a second then no one will be leaving this section." Daisy's sweet voice threatened both the Gryffindor and the Slytherin in a far more serious tone than normal. Elizabeth sighed and turned to Daisy.

"I see someone's been learning how to be more stubborn."

"She's still no true match for us." Charles said, finally acknowledging Elizabeth in some sense. She inhaled sharply at his remark because it was shocking to finally hear that voice, the same voice that has been haunting her dreams for years, say more than a brief greeting to her. Elizabeth turned to look him straight in the eyes and realized there was not only obstinacy but hesitancy in his eyes.

 _Well then_.

"Now will you two hug?" Daisy asked.

"Nope."

"Sorry, but no thank you, Daisy." The Hufflepuff merely sighed in response.

"Well, then it appears we still have some work to do."

…

A/N: Let me explain something briefly: The relationship between Charles, Elizabeth, and Daisy is mirrored by one I've seen in real life. So, for those who are slightly confused by it let me elaborate: although Charles and Elizabeth clearly have something they need to work out it used to be that Charles, Elizabeth, and Daisy were an odd trio of their own. Daisy isn't trying to send Elizabeth into Charles's arms or something like that. Rather, Daisy is just trying to patch up a relationship that she was a part of because Daisy doesn't like it when friends that should be loyal to one another become stubborn with one another over trivial things. Because nothing is more important, in Daisy's opinion, than friendship and loyalty.

Also, I should also say that all of these relationships/friendships/people are based on real ones. Therefore, I already know how the story will turn out it's just a matter of putting it into writing.

Till next time, my lovely readers.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: And now we are dealing with the wonderful aftermaths of the Yule Ball. Enjoy!

...

"And did you see Baxter and Summers snogging? It was absolutely disgusting."

"But did it top Rooney getting slapped again?"

"The only surprise there was that it was from Bulstrode of all people."

"Granted, she is an aggressive kind of girl."

"No, I don't mean it's surprising that she slapped him. I'm just surprised he decided to hit on her of all witches."

It was breakfast time at Hogwarts, also known as the prime to get all the good gossip.

And just because the Yule Ball had been over for a few days did not stop Beauxbaton, Hogwarts, and even Durmstrang students from indulging in rumors about the dance.

It was school bonding after all.

...

"So a little birdie told me you were sitting on the sidelines with a certain someone. Care to explain, Elizabeth?"

"Hmm?" Yes, today was a day full of distractions for Elizabeth. She looked down at her breakfast, oblivious to the fact that she was now being observed by a quite a few Gryffindors.

"You and that Norwegian, Kostya." Bethany began elaborate. "Were quite close to dancing apparently?" Elizabeth snorted at this opinion.

"Something funny, Elizabeth?" Abigail, the best friend of Bethany, asked defensively.

"First off," Elizabeth said, giving some of her attention to the two sixth years. "He's not Norwegian. Secondly, how does sitting next to someone mean we were dancing? Does that mean giving someone a hug constitutes as sex?" Clementine Groves, a dorm mate of Elizabeth's, snickered at this retort as both Abigail and Bethany looked horrified at the rhetorical question.

"I-I just don't want a mentor like you to go down the wrong path. You can't trust those Durmstrang boys!"

"Beth, weren't you trying to get into the pants of one of 'those Durmstrang boys'?" Matthew Hughes piped up from a few seats away. A few of the younger years leaned forward with interest, because they _never_ got to hear about these kinds of things, and Clementine transitioned from snickering to downright cackling.

"That's quite enough, Clementine." Mary Curtis said sharply to Clementine but the laughing girl merely shook her head in response. This only prompted both Bethany and Abigail to glare at the older girl.

"You know that it's just not fair." Abigail began hotly and Clementine cocked an eyebrow at this.

"Oh really? And what exactly is not fair?"

"You know, while this has indeed been fun, I think I'm good for breakfast." Elizabeth interrupted the beginnings of a hissy fit as she stood up. Her friends frowned at the action but Elizabeth was not in the mood to see such trivial fights so early in the morning.

And as Elizabeth left the hall she almost collided into a rather familiar figure. Another sigh was released when she realized that he wasn't going to just awkwardly pivot on the spot and walk away to sit away at his table like he would in years past. She looked into darker brown eyes and ignored how she suddenly felt a little lightheaded.

Eyes really don't change that much, do that? They complement the package but they don't really change. If anything there was change only in the emotions they reflect.

"Moore," She eventually greeted, ready to slip around him.

"Walk with me, Abrams." He tersely interrupted any escape she had planned by grabbing her wrist and subtly dragging her out of the hall.

Having not been pulled like that in years, Elizabeth allowed herself to be taken down multiple hallways and corridors, until she recognized the path they were on. It was a path she always avoided if only because of the memories it brought back to the front of her mind.

It was the way they'd go to get out of the atmosphere of the school. Years ago, when Elizabeth was on an adventure with her best friend at the time, they'd discovered a secret room. Not a classroom, not a broom closet, just a small, empty space. Elizabeth had suspected there had to be others just like it but her best friend, a young Charles Moore, was rather drawn to this particular one.

So, they took advantage of their little secret and every time either of them needed a break from the world they'd find themselves walking down a familiar route to a familiar, simple room.

The last time Elizabeth had been here was the day she confessed to Charles that she had some sort of an equivalent of a crush on him.

This time, there was no beating around the bush.

"We need to talk about the dance." She avoided his stare, choosing to study the room once more.

"I'm not sure there's truly anything to talk about."

"Don't give me that bullcrap." The first time he had used that particular phrase on her she had giggled at the odd combination. Now, she didn't even blink at the accusing tone or smile at the use of her favorite curse word of his.

"You do realize that nothing truly happened? Daisy tried to get us to go back to pre-fourth year and it didn't work."

"Did you ever tell her how you felt?"

"That I felt betrayed and abandoned by two of my closest friends because they suddenly decided to become attached and take no more _interest_ in some 'boring little Gryffindor'? Or are you wondering if I ever told her that I had a crush on her current boyfriend? The answer to both of those questions is no, by the way." She could feel his stare shift into a glare without even needing to look up.

"Abrams, you're being incredibly stupid."

"Oh, am I, Moore? I supposed I'm always in the wrong with you, aren't I? Always making some sort of error in your opinion, even when we were closer."

"That's not fair." She stood up at this and smiled icily at the Slytherin in front of her.

"Oh, but I think it is actually quite fair, _Charles_. I do remember, after all, how you reacted to me telling you about my crush: not a single cordial word for weeks and disgusted glances for months. I remember how you were _always_ teasing me for the stupidest of things and mocking me for my other crushes."

"And what about you, _Abrams_? You never gave me a break when it came to your flirting. And your obstinacy certainly can drive one up a wall."

"When did I ever flirt with you, Charles?" She scoffed at the idea, stepping forward defiantly and crossing her arms. "And speaking of obstinacy, I do believe you're even more stubborn than I am!" He scowled and stepped even closer at her tone and they soon were almost nose to nose, anger radiating off of both of them like an overworked heater. The air crackled with years of unresolved tension and aggravation as the Slytherin and Gryffindor glared unflinchingly into each others eyes before almost leaning in for something entirely different.

"You really hurt me, Charles."

"The same to you, Elizabeth."

Lips were less than five centimeters apart. Eyes began to close in anticipation and for a brief moment the past of anger and frustration could be forgotten.

And then something broke.

"This is wrong." Those magical words, spoken in unison, worked faster than any spell and immediately the two old friends backed off one another. No longer did irritation grip the air but instead fear and confusion began to build in the room.

"I need to go." Elizabeth said, now more confused than she had been at the dance. He merely looked at her, searching for an answer to resolve the situation.

She was really beginning to despise today.

...

Ryo Nakamori was never truly scared, at least not outwardly. The bubbly Asian usually held on to smiles, while occasionally clutching the typical stressline, but she certainly did not allow her fears to control her.

However, there's always one exception to a rule.

So, as she sat down in the library the Hufflepuff couldn't help but wonder if she really made a fool of herself this time around.

 _Was what happened at the Yule Ball just one huge mistake_?

Adalie's presence today, or lack thereof, was making Ryo consider that perhaps she had scared the French girl away considering they always met up on a Monday for lessons in the library. Yet, with a textbook on French philosophies in one hand and trembling quill in the other, doubt was beginning to swirl and slosh inside Ryo's mind.

Ryo had never been kissed like that before. Well, she'd actually never been kissed before in general but that's another thing altogether. Ryo had never been kissed like before and, days later, she still liked to close her eyes to reimagine the whole thing. She liked to think that the stars were still shining brightly for the couple and she liked to remember that Adalie's lips tasted sweeter than chocolate.

A backpack was quietly placed on top of the table. Ryo opened her eyes, brought herself out of the fantasy, and lifted her face up to snip at whoever foolishly thought they could take Adalie's spot. But Ryo's irritated glare jolted into surprise as she found herself looking up at Adalie herself.

The French girl was holding a finger to her lips to indicate the need for silence. Adalie then decided to bring the backpack closer to Ryo to show another surprise.

And that's when Ryo realized that Adalie had actually snuck delicious pieces of chocolate into the library. The Beauxbaton girl leaned quietly over the table to whisper coyly into the Hufflepuff's ear.

"I think today's lesson will have to be taught _outside_ the library today."

"Agreed."

...

"Alright, you've been acting weird since the Yule Ball." A quiet voice whispered next to Ethan. "You've actually been weirder than normal for a lot longer but it's become especially apparent since the Yule Ball." He turned to Christina and tried not to grin like an idiot. She rolled her eyes at his pathetic attempt before turning back to her lunch.

"Must've been some snog."

 _Oh, Christina, my dear,_ Ethan thought with a smirk.

 _It had been far more than just a snog._

...

A/N: Also, let me note something that I don't think I really touched on in previous author notes: This is a fun way for me to purge the last few years I've experienced. I don't want to mess with canon, I don't want to create some radical story that flips people's world upside down (though I do appreciate reviews/favorites!). I just want to release many things I had to deal with in these last few years and I think it's quite fun to do so through fanfiction.

Till next time!


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Four things:

1) I'm going to be mixing up the people this time for a little more variety

2) One more thing to add to the key of dialogue: **_Writing in the story like this_** means that it's a letter.

3) This chapter delves into a recent event that occurred for me. So, it'll become a bit darker than before.

4) I won't be writing about the Second Task directly. I'll be dealing with some of the characters thoughts in regards to the Task but this chapter takes place after the task ends.

Now, why am I doing that? I merely find that even though I enjoy the concept of the second task (my favorite of all three tasks) I also know that if I'm not going to really play with canon events then I'd basically be having my OCs stare at a lake for a good hour. Now, could I do an AU multi-fic in which each character gets to be put through the ordeal of one of the tasks? Definitely! :D

Regardless, enjoy!

…

"Who do you think you would have had to save? In the Second Task that is." Olivia blinked, taken aback by the unexpected question.

"I'm not quite sure." Kostya nodded at this response and joined her by sitting down.

The lake seemed to glow with enigma after the Second Task. She was sitting near the edge of the water, transfixed by its murky depths. The air was colder than ice and the lake was stiller than stone and yet Olivia found the overall atmosphere to be quite enjoyable.

"Anything interesting appear?"

"Depends on what your definition of 'interesting' is." Olivia responded bemusedly. They continued to look on in silence for a few minutes before the Gryffindor turned to her unexpected companion.

"If they had taken someone for you, it wouldn't have been Elizabeth would it?" Kostya frowned at this but accepted that she was just curious and not trying to insinuate anything.

"I'm not sure myself."

"Fair enough." The young woman said.

…

Elizabeth stared up at the ceiling, wondering what it must have been like to be a part of the Second Task. To be taken into the watery depths of the Black Lake as a challenge.

 _And what if you weren't the most important person in the room for the Champion that you were chosen for? What if Harry, Fleur, Viktor, or Cedric had swum all the way to where the hostages had been and left you behind because you actually weren't that important to them? What if you were just someone they 'tolerated' for the sake of doing so and not someone they genuinely cared about?_

Elizabeth loathed thoughts like those.

And she really hated that they were the only ones to keep her company as of late.

…

"Who do you think you would have to save, Thommy? In the Second Task, that is." William MacGregor asked his fellow Ravenclaw at the table asked. Thomas Payne smiled at this, inwardly rolling his eyes at this.

"Sara would be the only girl for me." Came the confident response. Sara blushed from her spot right next to him before smiling.

"Well, what if Sara wasn't a choice?" Thomas's eyes narrowed ever so subtly at this but he knew the correct words to say.

"Sara would always be my choice for such a challenge because I'm always up for saving her because I love her." And this was correct. He would always save her, especially since it was basically his job to do so.

Sara's smile widened at the sight and yet this didn't bring Thomas any pleasure.

It didn't bring him anything at all.

…

Kazimir's eyes darted through the hallway towards the wistful Slytherin leaning against the wall.

"Ethan," He called and the wistful expression instantaneously turned into a forced smile.

"Yes, Kazimir?"

"There is one thing I've always been curious about in regards to this school."

"Oh?"

"Yes."

"And what would that be?"

"Where exactly are the kitchens?" Ethan frowned in thought for a brief moment before remembering how to get to the kitchens.

"Let me show you."

The boys began heading towards the infamous, and oh so very delicious, painting that was the glorious entrance to the kitchens.

And it was only once they were completely out of earshot that Kazimir abruptly stopped, facing Ethan.

"What are your intentions towards Gustas?"

"… Excuse me?"

"I have no idea of why he's become interested in you as of late and I don't really need an explanation. However, I need to know one thing in particular."

"And that one thing is?"

 _There is no way of putting this bluntly, is there?_ Kazimir thought to himself.

"Do you know he has a girlfriend of four years back home?"

…

A small envelope fell in front of her. It was the only thing that took Ryo's attention from Adalie as the French girl was approaching the Hufflepuff table.

She never got letters from home.

 ** _Ryo-kun,_**

The tears were beginning to appear and she couldn't stop them as Ryo's eyes continued to read even though she already had a damn good guess on what it was this letter was about.

 ** _We didn't want you to worry unnecessarily, however,_**

Shuddering breaths began to wrack Ryo's body and the letter soon became crumpled up in her hands as she read on.

"Ryo?" A very concerned voice asked but the Asian couldn't handle it.

"No." The denial came out shakily as her voice cracked. She flinched when Adalie tried to comfortingly hug her and immediately stood up from the breakfast table.

"Stop!" She snapped through tears at the other girl.

This was all so damn _wrong_.

The previously enticing aroma of breakfast twisted her stomach and nearby laughter from other students, laughter that was definitely oblivious to her sorrow, pounded mockingly into her skull.

 _He can't be gone. Please, he_ can't _be gone._

And suddenly she was running out of the Great Hall, her heart pounding while her stomach rolled around. Salty tears clung to her eyes but they were not the healing kind, the purging kind.

Air was gulped inconsistently and Ryo's legs screamed for relief as she eventually had to stop running.

"Ryo Nakamori!" A sharp, distressed called out and suddenly the sound of running mixed into the sound of her sobs.

"Please," She cried to Adalie, a desperate whimper escaping her lips. "Please, leave me alone." She wanted to be alone as so many memories crawled back into existence.

Jiichan was the only reason she survived her parents divorce, when fights exploded everywhere they could. Jiichan, who comforted her when her first pet, a sweet terrier named Quincy, passed on to a better life. The one person who entertained her with stories of the times he ventured into the Muggle world. Jiichan, who—

Who loved her for she was, not who she was supposed to be.

…

Adalie's soft arms finally enveloped the distraught girl and the letter finally fell from shaking hands. The floodgates properly opened as the pair sank down to the floor. No further words were spoken as Adalie continued to let Ryo cry. The French girl had no need to look at the letter.

Adalie could recognize Death from meters away.

...

A/N: My knowledge of Asian culture is only from multiple viewings of Detective Conan/Case Closed so if there are any cultural inaccuracies I apologize. However, my knowledge of losing someone incredibly important to me grew this year. Chronologically it would've happened right after the Second Task and since that is something I've still not quite come to terms with I had to let it be a part of this story.

Till next time, readers.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Things are certainly not as dreary in this chapter, I promise.

…

"So, how's Ryo doing, Adalie?" Elizabeth probed carefully because it's been a few weeks since the Hufflepuf lost her grandfather. And even though Elizabeth was certainly not one of Ryo's best friends she was still concerned for the fellow seventh year.

Adalie raised an eyebrow in response to the question. They were in the library and even though it was a place Elizabeth didn't mind walking into she did mind the fact that silence could drive one to insanity after a while.

"She's as okay as anyone can be when they are processing death." The Beauxbaton student bluntly answered.

"Which means?"

"She's an emotional wreck."

"Oh." Elizabeth had lost a few relatives but that had been when she was much younger. So the connections that others had with their family were lost on the Gryffindor. "Well, be sure to give her my condolences."

…

She saw her out of the corner of her eye and resisted the urge to smile. But as the Slytherin continued to observe her oblivious friend she began to frown. There had been obvious signs of stress all over her friend for the last week and Irene Deening was not pleased to see that in the slightest. Granted, Irene also knew that if she tried to interrogate her friend on the matter said friend would put unnecessary walls up and probably climb to a new level of stress within a matter of seconds.

And so the sixth year went back to her copy of the Daily Prophet and simply waited.

…

Ann glanced around Hogs Head and saw a familiar figure skimming the Daily Prophet. With a smile the seventh year quietly walked over to surprise her friend. She almost frowned at how little she had been able to talk to Irene as of late but she knew that the both of them were probably too busy for much socialization anyway.

 _Well, time to make that up. I'm sure Irene will appreciate this little surprise._ Ann thought as her smile turned into a slight smirk.

…

"So how's this week been for you, Irene?" Irene looked up from her table at Hogs Head with a smile, pleased that Ann had finally approached her.

"Ann!" She said with a grin before she decided to answer the question. "This week's been great, you?" Ann took a seat next to her friend before giving the girl a tired smile.

"It's been fine."

"So what's that really mean?" The older girl's smile faded for a brief second before a stressed frown took over her lips.

"It's been absolutely rotten." She explained before letting her head connect to the wooden table they were sitting at. Irene gave a sympathetic nod at this.

"Anything in particular?"

"Just more letters from home saying they're still not impressed I didn't decide to stick to Potions because 'Professor Snape probably isn't that bad of a teacher, you just probably need to just act more professional.'. And Professor McGonagall was not as impressed as normal with my latest essay so she critiqued far more than necessary. Transfigurations may be my favorite subject but that doesn't mean I'm always going to be perfect! And Peeves decided to just _prank_ the dorm last night. And by prank I mean destroy and by the dorm I mean just my bed. And my nicest robes got destroyed yesterday because Seamus Finnegan is a complete and utter idiot. And-"

"Ann, perhaps, you just need a break from this week?" The girl in question paused, not used to ranting and definitely not used to be interrupted.

"I'm not exactly sure how that would work out, considering we do live at Hogwarts and to avoid Hogwarts is like trying to avoid breathing.

"Shall we run away to Diagon Alley?"

"Merlins beard, no. You can't disapparate. I guess I'll just snag a portkey and we'll run away to America!"

"Ann, did you ever notice you've got a rather odd fascination with America?"

"Obviously, Irene. How long have you known me?" She said, lifting up her head from the table to wink at her friend. Irene rolled her eyes at this but was pleased to note a smile appeared on her tired friend's face.

Because, unlike the previous smiles, this particular one was completely genuine.

…

They'd been walking along the corridor when she sprung the question on him, giving him no time to think.

Typical Gryffindor.

"So, you going to Gustas's surprise party?" Kostya blinked at the sudden change in topic.

"Isn't that supposed to be a surprise?" Kazimir had been planning it for more than a week and only a few people knew about it.

However, he wasn't truly a shocked that Elizabeth knew

"Have you ever known a secret that stayed a secret in this school?" A badly phrased question but he understood her meaning.

"I suppose I have not." He said, stalling her curiosity by making her laugh. She snickered at this before her face turned into a much more serious one.

"Regardless of whether or not you, tell Gustas I said 'Happy birthday', alright?"

"Of course. I assume you're not coming to the party?" He said. She gave a strained smile.

"It's presume."

"Huh?"

"It's presume and not assume, in this instance. The difference between presume and assume is that presume means you're very confident and just want a word to sound less arrogant, and arrogance is such a hamartia if there ever was one. Anyway, moving on, assume means you're shooting in the dark in which case we can also presume you are a poor marksman when you have to assume." She giggled at this, watching his reaction grew more and more confused the longer her little spiel went on.

"Now where did you get all that air from to all that in one go?"

"I'm a woman that's not afraid to explain things. You expected less? Because when the muggles find out about magic their own sexism will blind them to the fact that witches are just as dangerous as wizards. Which means they'll blindly trust us 'girls' which would definitely help the Wizarding World a great deal more than they'd ever admit. I mean, most of the men in Wizardingpolitics these days are blithering idiots, have you noticed? Like Cornelius Fudge, our very idiotic Minister of Magic. Oh, and undoubtedly there is sexism in our world too. I mean Amelia Bones would make a fabulous Minister but did you ever notice-"

"You never did answer my question, Elizabeth." She shot him a short glare for cutting her off but he merely responded by staring at her.

"I wasn't invited. Now can we go back to the awesomeness of women in politics?"

"How did you find out about the party then?"

"You've really got an odd list of priorities, Kostya." He continued to stare at her in silence as he put the pieces together to tonight's puzzle. And then it clicked.

"You just overheard about the party." She sheepishly looked away, a mixture of uncontrolled emotions appearing on her face. "No one invited you did they?" She focused on the wall for a brief moment before turning back to him. No trace of emotion reflected in face, even her eyes contained a chillier glint than before.

"I need to start heading to class." However, they both knew she had no classes today and nothing official except for dinner later.

He still let her walk away in silence regardless.

…

"Abra-Elizabeth."

Oh, she so did not need this right now.

"What do you want, Moore?"

"We need to talk.

"Don't you remember the last time we needed to talk?" She said sharply, still not meeting his gaze.

"This isn't about us, Moore. I just need someone to listen." And she could tell that just from the exhaustion in his tone. She finally met worn down brown eyes once again, mentally kicking herself for what she was going to next.

"C'mon," She heard herself say coldly. "Let's hear what's going on now."

They walked together in silence for a good few minutes. Eventually, she remembered the location of a nearby unused classroom and led him in. Closing the door behind them, she waited for him to begin.

"Dais and I… We're not necessarily approved of but we are respected." Elizabeth had to agree that when the odd pairing first stepped into the spotlight almost three years ago it had been a bit shaky. The star-crossed teenagers weren't quite a believable pair. Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs thought he was brainwashing her with Dark magic. Slytherins assumed she blinded him with her breasts.

And Elizabeth was left staring in confusion at two old friends. She really hadn't thought they were serious when they told her, in advance, that they wanted to be a couple.

She, along with the rest of the school, thought it was a pure joke.

"And eventually the school turned around, right?" Also accurate: an ecletic fan base started to become cheerleaders for the quirky couple. Said fan base enjoyed the pairing so much that they combined Charles's and Daisy's name into the name "Chaisy."

Yet when the Chaisy fan club tried to become official by asking Professors Sprout and Snape to sponsor, the respective Heads of Houses for Charles and Daisy, the Potions Masters had actually—

"Perhaps not the entire school approved." Elizabeth added in afterthought.

"Regardless of who gave their bloody approval though, we worked."

 _Key word: worked._

"So what's happened now?" She knew that nudging too much would end up with more barriers than she wanted. But if he kept avoiding the real reason he wanted to talk then he would never truly be listened. She watched as his eyes flicked back to hers for a brief moment, a ghost of a smile appearing at the sound of her impulsiveness showing up. And then the ghost died and he suddenly looked away.

"I can't do this. I can't commit to her because I just can't commit to her. But I want to commit and I just don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do." It was the only time his voice had ever broken like that and she froze in shock, not sure what she should do herself.

She took a hesitant step forward, before seeing the tears begin to appear on someone she never thought could actually cry. She was in another situation she never would have predicted.

And she knew exactly what to do.

"Let it out, Charles. Just let it out."

…

A/N: See? I do believe that was a lot less dreary. But we're not quite up to a "happy go lucky" level just yet.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Only two things this time:

1) It's time for some more healing for a certain Hufflepuff!

2) Drama drama drama! And, unfortunately, most of it is only slightly altered from the real events. Annddd the drama won't be stopping anytime soon.

Enjoy!

...

"You need to come back, my dear." A sniffle was the only reply she received.

"The library was one of the first things he ever introduced me to." Came the mutter.

"Ryo," A tired voice responded. "he would want you to come back. He wouldn't want you to emulate the dead when you are still breathing." Ryo halfheartedly glared at Adalie before sighing in resignation. They were at the entrance to her old sanctuary, a sanctuary Ryo had not ventured into for weeks.

"That's not fair." She whined quietly before peering into the library.

"I know, ma cherie." Adalie said as two smooth hands gently pushed the mourning girl into the library.

There was no sudden explosion as Ryo stumbled into the space. Just a quiet sigh of relief from Madame Pince, disguised as a cough.

"It's good to have you back." Came the awkward explanation. Ryo turned to the librarian and bowed her head respectfully at this.

"I think…" She began, hesitant yet determined. "It is good to be back."

...

Why did this always have to happen to her?

"Are you alright?" A familiar voice called out as the sound of robes swishing on the stairs came closer.

Of all the people that could have witnessed this small fiasco why did it have to be this particular Slytherin?

"I'm perfectly fine, Ann." She responded, already resigned to her fate of being mother-henned. Her Slytherin friend glanced over the scene.

"Want to tell me how come you're on the stairs?"

"She tripped and plummeted down the stairs." A high pitched voice came from their left. They looked up to see a portrait staring down at the mess. "I saw the whole thing and it most certainly didn't look or sound pretty." Ann nodded at this new information while Elizabeth glared up at the portrait, ignoring the pain she was in.

 _Damn that man_ , she thought because now she could tell Ann wouldn't just let her get out of a Hospital Wing visit.

"Really, I'm quite alright. I just was a little shocked that it happened again, is all. That's why I haven't gotten up yet."

"You've been on the floor for more than ten minutes, young lady."

"Has she now?"

"Indeed she had, Miss."

"He's exaggerating, don't worry." Elizabeth said before gritting her teeth to prepare herself to get up. Ann saw this and crouched down, putting a firm hand on Elizabeth's shoulder.

"Don't you dare move a muscle."

"Not even to breathe?"

"Not one word of sass from you either. You can either let me levitate you to the Hospital Wing myself or we can one of the Professors to do so." Elizabeth now couldn't decide between glaring at the portrait or Ann.

"Times running out, Abrams." She tried to push herself up once more but Ann's hand stopped her from raising even half a meter.

"Allow me some dignity, Hayes." She said, scowling at the fact that she had to grovel.

"Then allow me to help, for once."

"Shall I be calling upon the aid of another Professor, Miss?"

"There will be no need for that, thank you." And with a grunt of effort Ann picked her friend off the ground, carrying her bridal style.

"Haven't you been eating lately? You're lighter than a feather."

"I haven't been that hungry lately. Problem?"

"Yes: It's not that difficult to pick you up."

"One would think the fact that I'm light actually wouldn't be a problem."

"And one would also think that if one is injured they'd actually ask for help."

"Shut up, Ann."

"Merely stating what should be common sense and I'm merely saying that it's actually okay to ask for help."

"Even if it ends up in lectures and sharp sass?"

"Lecturing you is my way of saying I'm worried. The sharp sass is just a part of the package."

"Fair enough. But we never bring this up to the others, okay?"

"Did I ever mention that you can be quite the insufferable Gryffindor sometimes?"

"And did I ever mention that flattery gets you nowhere?"

...

Ethan had actually been quite horrified to discover that he was in love with someone who was already in a steady relationship.

 _Well, not so steady now, is it?_

Which brought him to the even bigger question:

 _Was I ever going to be told?_ Which lead to the horrifying thought that _If someone I have fallen in love with has been dating some girl for years, what kind of a person is he?_

"Ethan?" A concerned voice eventually broke through his thoughts and caught his attention. But out of all the students he knew within this school, why her?

"Yes, Astoria? Do you need a little help with something? Because I think Daphne would definitely be much more helpful. And I find that if you are struggling in classes, and Daphne doesn't want to help, the Professors will actually help you out. Also-" The gloomy frown was swept away and an inflated smile quickly expanded in its place as he began to ramble. He really did like helping out the younger years even if he wasn't that social with them. Yet the second year was not fazed by his distracted rambling for a moment and continued to watch him with concern before she cut him off.

"Are you alright, Ethan?" He almost blinked at this question, with a bright reply of reassurance ready to be shot off. She briefly saw the internal struggle and opened her mouth to say something. However, he quickly held up a hand to stop her in her tracks as his smile began to deflate ever so slightly.

"Ethan!" Never before did he enjoy the cackle of Christina Prescott. "Ethan, you won't believe what happened!"

With a public emotional breakdown avoided Ethan turned around to Christina. He was entirely oblivious to Astoria's quiet observation of the new scene as he turned to his gossip partner in crime.

Because even if Ethan no idea what the hell he was supposed to do in regards to Gustas he was extremely confident in one thing:

He knew he was already bringing that glorious convincing smile back.

Even if it was also the smile that didn't fool Astoria Greengrass for one damn minute.

...

An uneventful night spent in Hospital Wing meant that she had to deal with Madame Pomfrey's rather unnecessary lectures and Ann's rather unnecessary snarks.

And so, it was with a minor limp that Elizabeth dealt with as she hastened through the halls.

Magic can perform great miracles when it comes to healing the literal wounds but apparently only time would make the pain go away.

"Elizabeth?" A hesitant voice whispered. She halted and turned towards the speaker, a grin rapidly appearing at a familiar sight.

"It's good to see you out and about, Ryo." She truly had been worried about her friend but since Elizabeth hadn't any sort of clue on how to really help she let Adalie take control of the situation. And, speaking of the French girl, Elizabeth was rather pleased to hear the two girls make their relationship more public.

"It's good to see you too. I heard what happened, do you still feel pain from the fall?"

"Just pain from being in solitary confinement—I mean the hospital wing." Elizabeth joked. Adalie eyed the way the Gryffindor was holding her weight and looked back at the girl in slight disbelief.

"You were already dismissed?" At this new question the Gryffindor seemed to blush.

"Well, not exactly." She said vaguely before something came to mind. "But exactly why are you two out so late?" And it was with this question that Elizabeth finally witnessed the French girl blush.

It was also this question that paused the conversation long enough for Elizabeth to notice that both Adalie and Ryo seemed to have rather rumpled clothes and they were not quite as put together as normal. Elizabeth's grin morphed into a smirk.

"I won't mention this meeting to anyone if you don't tell Ann I snuck out of the Hospital Wing."

"As you would say, Elizabeth, deal."

And that was that.

...

I do hope you enjoyed this chapter. Till the next one!

Till next time!


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Time to bring in some Professor interaction, some drama of the romantic kind, some interaction with OCs that don't get as much attention, and more.

Enjoy!

...

They had all come together on the grounds to celebrate Gustas's birthday. It wasn't a party so much as an unofficial picnic and though it was a pleasant atmosphere there seemed to be a strained energy in the background.

"Has anyone seen Ethan?" Gustas asked nonchalantly, looking over his birthday cake towards his friends. Kostya shook his head while Kazimir shrugged.

"He could be sick or something." Kazimir suggested, though the boy knew that wasn't the case.

"I haven't even seen him much this last week. He seems busier than normal." Gustas complained but neither of his friends were going to really offer much help.

"Perhaps his teachers have been burdening him more so than normal?" Kostya threw the thought in the air but Gustas shook his head quite firmly.

"Not at all likely."

And regardless of the suggestions Kostya and Kazimir gave Gustas was adamant on denying everything they suggested.

 _It's as though_ , Kazimir irritatedly thought, _He's already figured it out and is just waiting for the obvious._

Then again, Gustas was an idiot to think one of his friends weren't going to eventually tell Ethan about Viktorija.

It had simply been a matter of time.

...

"Miss Deening." A baritone voice drawled.

Brilliant. _Absolutely_ brilliant.

"Yes, Professor?" She walked over to his desk at his silent command.

"Your brilliance is slipping. I suspect it's begun to do since you and Miss Hayes have developed a friendship but now it's at quite an unacceptable level." It was no secret Ann and Professor Snape despised each other. An unusual occurrence, considering Ann was a member of his own House, and yet it was one that many Slytherins had seen coming since the start of Ann's sixth year.

Said loathing might have sparked to life because she just so happened to have insulted him in front of the entire class.

She had received only one detention.

Any other student, especially a Gryffindor, probably would have received around ten.

"However," Professor Snape brought Irene out of her thoughts. "Since you have proven to not be a dunderhead you, _fortunately_ , have undoubtedly already realized how to rectify this _mistake_." She looked questioningly at him. The professor seemed to roll his eyes at this response before continuing.

"Any worthy Slytherin would realize the obvious options: you either break off this _acquaintanceship_ you have with Hayes or you go to daily tutoring."

"Daily tutoring, sir?" In her surprise she had forgotten the silver rule of Slytherin: never interrupt Professor Snape.

He merely sneered at this response.

"You will report to me after dinner everyday for the next three weeks. If your grades haven't sufficiently risen by the end of the third week… Then perhaps you're more of an insufferable student than I had originally perceived." He said, and she tried not to gape at this punishment.

She was one of his best students. Perhaps not at Hermione Granger's level but then again nobody was quite at Hermione's level, much to Irene's disgust.

"Do you not recognize a dismissal, Deening?"

...

"Daisy?" A voice shouted over the wind.

Normally, everyone avoided the lawn when it stormed outside.

 _But it doesn't look like Daisy Brown is everyone is she?_ Ryo mentally asked herself as she noted that not only was Daisy quite sodden she was also crying.

"Ryo?" The tired voice asked, quite confused by the Asian girl's appearance.

"What are you doing out here, Daisy?" Both of them were drenched by this point as the storm began to worsen. Thunder growled louder than a Cerberus's stomach and lightning flashed in the distance.

Yet for all the chaos whirling around them the two witches almost seemed to be absorbing the storm with a great calm. Daisy was crying but she wasn't a basket case even in the middle of a thunderstorm

"Just thinking. The rain helps."

"Daisy, it's dangerous! And you've probably got a cold by this point." Ryo shivered as droplets danced her robes and clung to her skin.

"I don't mind. The rain never bothered me anyway."

"Well, at least, come back and enjoy the rain inside Hogwarts."

"Inside Hogwarts?" The stressed out girl let out a quiet chuckle. "The place I really can't stand anymore? A place I'm so _damn_ tired of staying at?"

"Daisy-"

"Just go, Ryo. I really appreciate you coming out here to help me but I really just need some space." Ryo Nakamori stopped at this as her eyes clouded darkly.

"No _._ "

"What did you just say?"

" _No_." The word echoed through the air as Ryo repeated herself more loudly this time.

"Look, Ryo, seriously-" The Asian looked out towards the lake, coldly interrupting.

"I know you think isolation is the best way to deal with life. It always seems better to stay locked away in a room or to get pneumonia from the rain. But someone close to my taught me that if humans were to live by themselves, especially when they were in pain, then we would have our own worlds to rule. Nobody would cross paths and everything would be wrong."

"So who did you have to let go of?" Daisy asked bitterly, having forgotten who she was talking to.

"My grandfather." Ryo turned back to her friend with matching tears. Daisy looked away, horrified at the pain Ryo was still dealing with.

"It's not even like Charles died, we just split." She sniffed "And it's so stupid because _I_ was the one who decided to let him go!" She fully turned away from Ryo by this point and so was shocked when the Asian girl enveloped her in a sodden hug.

"Any loss, regardless of the reason, causes pain." Ryo intoned softly, now gently leading Daisy back to the castle. She allowed this and they walked in silence for a few more moments as the rain continued to seep into their bodies.

"When he had asked me in our fourth year I could hardly believe it. My best friend in the entire world actually liked me. He didn't see me as a sister, like I thought he did, but he saw me as a possible girlfriend." Ryo let the girl continue, refusing to interrupt the reminiscing. "And I actually ran away from him the first time he asked me out. Did you know that?

"I was so afraid because if I said yes then he'd be my first boyfriend. And all my friends at the time, even Elizabeth, seemed confused by his sudden interest. It sounded like some sort of mistake that a Slytherin would actually be asking a _Hufflepuff_ , of all the people. However, he was persistent and eventually I let him take me to Hogsmeade just to see what would happen." Daisy's smile widened and the tears seemed to be more of a happier type as her tone drifted into melancholy.

"That night was so very, very sweet and all kinds of right. And so I started to trust his new idea of us. The other Slytherins hated me at first, some still do I think, but eventually the school seemed to warm up to our relationship, as you know. He never waited for their approval, wanting to hold my hand friend the beginning. He always pushed for more than I was comfortable. Did you know he actually wanted to miss me five dates into our relationship? But I made sure not to rush anything because it wasn't like he was forcing me to do anything I didn't want I just could always tell that being reserved was not his style for a relationship. And, at first, it was almost endearing because I got all sorts of giggles out of the things he wanted to do, the things that would occasionally slip out as a suggestion for a date. Charles is a gentlemen, however, and so never really forced me to start anything I was truly uncomfortable with."

Which meant, Ryo surmised, that Charles never probably got to do anything more than snogging. A fact that the entire school knew slowly killed him over time.

"But even I knew that being a gentleman had its limits. He was always proper but I've known him quite well for some years. And though I know that he's great," She seemed to hesitate before continuing, "He's not right for me and I-I'm not really the girl he wants me to be." Her voice cracked at this part and Ryo couldn't help but admire that she cared so much for the boy that she was willing to let go of a very loyal friend.

"There, there," Ryo whisered to the fellow classmate. She rubbed soothing circles into the girl's back. "Do you think having any hot chocolate might help?"

"Not really." The girl demurely responded. "But that doesn't meant we shouldn't try, just in case." A smile appeared on Ryo's face.

"Just in case."

...

A/N: I always found Hot cocoa to be a great help. What do you think?


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Another chapter done, another step closer.

…..

"And so, her next three weeks of torture would begin tonight."

"What was that you were saying, Miss Deening?" Irene jumped at the voice.

"Sorry, Professor McGonagall, I was just talking to myself."

 _So much for self-narration of my impending doom_ , came the snarky thought. She carried on with her walk to the Dungeons of Doom, a phrase she'd stolen from some gossiping Hufflepuffs. The surroundings did somehow seem gloomier tonight, with a large hint of fear mixed into it.

Irene's face scrunched up in said fear for only a brief moment as she stood outside the main Potions classroom. Questions of exactly what were behind the door, whether it was detention in disguise or actually tutoring, spun around her mind and made her sick to her stomach.

 _Well,_ she began to think morbidly, _If I die tonight the school will probably forget it in two days since I'm a Slytherin._ _But since I'm a Slytherin death wouldn't probably occur. I'd probably just be seriously maimed or injured by complete accident._

 _…_ _I wonder what Madame Pomfrey's hours are._

And it was that particular thought that made Irene open the door and enter the drafty room.

A clandestine survey of the room informed her, as she walked toward Professor Snape's desk, that tutoring actually consisted of cleaning disgusting cauldrons. There were already two Gryffindor girls and one Hufflepuff boy working on most of them.

"You're late." _And you're scarier than hell, did you know?_

Irene simply nodded in response. She stood, waiting to be snapped at for not instantly grabbing a cauldron to work with.

"Follow me." Severus Snape was one of those rare professors that rose to his feet without seeming to do anything. He never shuffled or used extraneous movements to get to his feet. He was the type to slither to his feet like a King snake. Yet one thing that only a few Slytherins picked up is, just like a King snake, Professor Snape only _acts_ poisonous.

Oh yes, there is no doubt Snape can be dangerous but he did not have a fatal poison in his bite that was just waiting to be released on even the most idiotic of Slytherins.

Or so Irene hoped.

And in all her hoping she almost didn't catch that Snape was already heading towards the exit. She hastily turned around, ignoring the snickers of her nameless peers.

"Silence." He hissed at the culprits who broke the golden rule: never make fun of a snake when Professor Snape is in the room. Said culprits froze, quite petrified of receiving any more possible punishment, as student and teacher left the room.

 _So, what's to be_ my _punishment? Grading the essays that didn't even deserve to be looked at? Reorganizing your collection of poisons?_

In all honesty, there had to be at least one collection of those.

As the two stepped in front of the door to a different classroom, Professor Snape stopped but didn't bother to turn around.

"You will report to this classroom every night until three weeks have passed. Inside are your current students." _Students?_

"You may be wondering why these particular students are here." He continued. "However, since you were late I feel no desire to explain the obvious." And so he dramatically turned on his heels and stalked back to the classroom he had left with his robes billowing menacingly behind his every step.

"Did you actually believe," She could hear his raised hiss, saved for idiots and Harry Potter, start again but Irene decided she was not interested in listening to his lectures, as entertaining as they may be. She opened the door and let herself in.

The three students had all paused at the desks each student occupied. Clearly they thought she was Professor Snape and she was quite alright with giving them a little surprise.

"So, what exactly," She drawled, taking great pleasure in seeing two of the three students give a jump while the third one stiffened in his seat, "Does Professor Snape consider tutoring?"

"Well, normally" The surprised voice of Thomas Payne sent an involuntary shiver down her spine as he turned around in his seat. "He just quizzes on the material we learned. But, unlike actual class time, he actually explains why the potions turn out the way they do, what affects each ingredient has, etcetera."

"He lets us choose how in depth we go." Astoria Greengrass intoned.

"And, ma'am, he did mention there would be a new tutor showing up eventually. He told us to tell you that you get to choose how to run tutoring." A fifth year Ravenclaw, a boy whose name escaped Irene, piped up. "All he's going to do now is just quiz us every couple of nights instead of every time we show up to tutoring."

"Now did he say all that in as many words as you did?" Irene smirked at the sheepish look both the boy and Astoria gave her.

"Not exactly, no." Astoria responded.

"Indeed." _This is going to be so much more fun than I thought_. "So, can you tell me what your name is?" Irene asked the unknown Ravenclaw boy.

"My name is Emmett Clayton, ma'am." Came the polite response.

"There is no need for formalities here, Emmett. Feel free to just call me Irene." He nodded at this and she looked towards the other two.

"So you all know each other?" The three nodded. "Then, riddle me this: what kind of learners are you lot?"

"Er…"

"What exactly do you mean, ma- Irene?" Her smile grew.

"To put it simply: if there's one thing I've learned at Hogwarts it's that we are all individuals. Unless you're a Gryffindor, that is," She quipped and a few soft chuckles were released at her joke.

"Tough crowd, eh?" That got a smirk from Astoria and a smile from Thomas but only a raised eyebrow from Emmett.

 _Well, I do enjoy a challenge._ And so she carried on.

"Like I was saying: we're all indiviudals. And so, with the beauty of individuality, it means we all work differently. It means that some us can listen to Professor Snape snark all day and they can actually remember the main points of the lesson. It means that some of us prefer the more hands on approach of the beautiful Professor McGonagall. And it means hands-on might not be the best approach and a verbal lecture is also probably not the best bet for others. It might mean that some students learn visually or can only concentrate if they think of music playing in the background.

"Now, Potions can be hands on, to a certain extent, but color changing liquids can become boring even for the most eager of students." Irene prayed that Snape was nowhere in earshot when she said that as she hurriedly carried on. "Even though, for me, watching liquids change colors always excites me, I'll have you know!" Thomas snorted at this and she sheepishly smiled before bringing herself back on track.

"So, to sum up my lesson for today: you are not only magical but you're also an individual. Which means you all just have to find your learning stating and embrace it because our wonderful mentors at Hogwarts can only help so much before it's really on us to get ourselves together." She looked at a nearby clock and noted that it's been about 30 minutes since she arrived.

"So, Emmett," Irene said as she focused on the only real stranger in the room. "What's your favorite subject?" Emmett pondered this for only a brief moment.

"Even though Potions or Transfigurations are considered the most practical, I enjoy Charms the most. Professor Flitwick has a nice balance between lectures, class discussions, and hands on work." She grinned at this.

"And Professor Flitwick is rather endearing in my personal opinion." He nodded at this with a hint of a smile and she directed her gaze towards the older Ravenclaw. "So, Thomas, who was your least favorite Defense teacher?"

This was a no-brainer for the seventeen year old and he scoffed at the thought, remembering his least favorite.

"Lockhart. He couldn't teach to save himself and he was the only teacher where it was almost all _lectures_." Irene cracked up, remembering that Lockhart's equivalent of lectures were dramatic readings of his novels.

"Astoria, you stunning vixen you," Irene said, keeping the air lighthearted. The younger Slytherin blushed as Irene turned to her. "Does the concept of looking at diagrams and written explanations sound appealing? If not, then perhaps you enjoy humming or singing while you work? And if none of those even come to the matter I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter." Astoria frowned suddenly, before responding.

"Well, I don't think I'm particularly good at singing but I do find that if I sometimes hum a song I usually like working on my essays more. Granted, I don't go bursting into song to remember lectures." She said and Irene giggled at the thought, not even trying to stop herself from enjoying the concept.

"Well," Irene started again as she caught her breath, "I don't believe it matters if you're good, which I'm sure you are actually. All that matters with this is that you find a method that works for _you_."

"The diagrams sound more practical though." Astoria admitted, looking as though she knew the correct answer that Irene wanted to hear. The older Slytherin detected a slight crack began to appear in the mask of cool indifference the second year crafted.

"Practicality does not matter if it doesn't help you grow. And it's quite okay to be uncertain about all of this. I'd be more concerned if you already knew the answer to how you learn. Because if you already have a concrete idea of what you _should be_ interested in then you won't be as willing to try a method that you're actually interested in. And now that I've chattered away at least half an hour," Irene said as she hopped up on to a desk near the front of the class, "It's time to hear exactly what everyone is struggling with."

…

Elizabeth had heard the rumor but didn't quite believe what had happened until she saw both Daisy and Charles the night after the rumors began. Even with delicious food in front of them the students of Hogwarts focused more on the gossip mill.

"You don't seriously believe that they actually broke up?"

"After years of being together?"

"But aren't they one of the best couples of Hogwarts?"

"Yeah! They were always so cute together!"

She rolled her eyes at all the conversation but curiosity clenched her stomach as she scanned the Great Hall once more.

And then she saw an opportunity.

Elizabeth quietly stood up before gathering her bearings. She clandestinely walked to the hallway when she saw familiar robes depart from the Slytherin table. And only when the two of them were in a dark corridor, far away from prying eyes and inquisitive ears, did she allow herself to speak.

"Char- Moore?"

The boy stood at the end of the corridor, stiffening at the sound of her voice.

"Leave me alone, Elizabeth." Came a cold hiss she never expected to hear.

And so she did. She let him continue on his path and she let him disappear into the shadows of the night.

Because when it came to her friends, and her loved ones, Elizabeth Abrams was quite a coward.

….

A/N: This chapter is a bit different and a bit shorter than normal, unfortunately. Nonetheless, till next time!


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: I'm not sure about how many chapters are left in this little story but I can estimate that it'll be seven more at the most (and that's overestimating, in my opinion).

Enjoy! ~

…

The female Gryffindor seventh year dorm had a few unspoken rules.

1) Let anyone who wanted to sleep in do so, especially if it's a weekend.

2) Food snuck into the dorm has to be shared with the entire dorm. Unless it's Bertie Botts because Mary hates those.

3) No pranks are to be played. Ever

4) What happened in their first four years at Hogwarts stayed in their first four years at Hogwarts.

5a) No talking of the Chosen as Edith has always been far too much of a fan.

5b) Don't mention Edith.

Unfortunately, one of those rules was just about to be broken.

…

"Olivia," A lowered voice whispered. The girl in question didn't even budge.

"Olivia," Came the louder whisper.

Still, nothing.

"Olivia Marie Ellery!"

"Be quiet, Elizabeth. It's a weekend." The sleep infused mumble came from a few beds over.

"Mary, go back to sleep." Elizabeth retorted. The eventual light snore confirmed the fact that Mary had listened to Elizabeth's instructions, quite possibly for the time in years. Elizabeth did love Mary, she was a sweetheart after all, but said sweetheart was more obstinate than an untamed Hungarian Horntail.

Back to the matter at hand.

Elizabeth had seen Olivia sleep for seven years. Olivia was a toss-and-turn type of witch and not an I-can-stay-perfectly-still-in-my-angelic-pose. That was Sophie.

"Olivia," Olivia turned in the direction of Elizabeth's voice, eyes still closed.

"Perhaps everyone would actually get back to sleep if you just shut up for once." Came the cold snap, not even softened by Olivia's sleepy tone. But Olivia had been acting odder than normal as of late and Elizabeth just wanted to talk to her friend.

"Olivia, I know you've been acting weird and distant lately but I don't think-"

"That's right! You don't think, do you Elizabeth?"

Now _that_ stung.

…

"Elizabeth?" Olivia repeated irritably. Elizabeth had been disrupting her much-needed beauty sleep by occasionally calling out Olivia's name. At first it started out as a whisper but now her voice was beginning to raise in volume ever so slowly.

"I'm definitely up, Elizabeth, but you're clearly still asleep."

"Maybe she's trying to come out of the closet?"

"Only you, Clementine. Only you would say that."

"Olivia, I think she's crying." And now Elizabeth's got Sophie up. Just great.

 _Wait—what?_

"What?"

Clementine Groves got up from her bed and tiptoed over to Elizabeth's bed.

"Elizabeth?"

…

"Elizabeth!"

"Clem?"

"Shut up, Elizabeth. You've really been annoying did you know?" Clementine haughtily chimed in. " And why are you even here? We know you want to get into Moore's pants ever since he and Daisy split. Actually, I think you've been wanting that for a _lot_ longer if I'm not mistaken."

"We're not even friends!" At that Mary gave a snort of laughter, having been up ages ago, and Elizabeth reddened as she realized all of her friends were now awake.

"'Not even friends'? Don't lie. Even I know you've wanted to jump him for months."

"And you've used this 'love'," Olivia said, disgusted. "To ignore not only your closest friends but to become as bad as Edith." Edith was hardly ever actually in the room. This year, she decided to chase after the boys that were actually in their House.

"I'm not like her!"

"So when was the last time anyone of us actually talked, Elizabeth? Today's pathetic excuse doesn't count!"

"Last week-" Mary harrumphed at this.

"You haven't even talked to me about Quidditch once this year!"

"Last week was clearly only for homework. And I'm not your robot or owl. But apparently you can't remember that, or even figure it out, which makes it no wonder you're not in Ravenclaw." Tears of shame begin to flow freely by this point.

"Elizabeth?" Each girl called mockingly, one after one. The Gryfffindor merely put her hands up as a shield, trying anything to stop this cacophony.

"Why are you doing this guys?"

"Elizabeth, you can't hide from your own stupidity." And a cold slap woke her.

…

Elizabeth gasped as her horrified, tearful eyes open and Olivia suddenly felt incredibly ashamed that she actually had to slap her friend awake.

"Are you okay, Elizabeth?" The girl in question flinched at the sight of her four dormmates hovering around her bed.

"I'm fine." Came the quiet mumble.

"Ooh, don't play that game!" The stubborn mother hen of the group scooted closer to Elizabeth. "You clearly had a nightmare and, at the very least, it involved Olivia. And if you don't confirm that it was a nightmare then Clementine will assume that you were attempting to come out of the closest with Olivia."

"And, in that instance, I'm gonna think that the tears were part of something pretty kinky." Clementine said, bringing in a bit of humor into the situation as Elizabeth did a double take.

"What exactly was I doing?"

"You were repeating my name." Olivia added to further explain.

"Did I say anything else?"

"Not anything we heard."  
"Nothing kinky if that's what you mean."

"Ladies," Mary interrupted the conversation before it could really begin. "Perhaps everyone would feel better if we all had some hot cocoa and warm breakfast?" At this Elizabeth's stomach roared like a lion's and she blushed even more at the sound.

"I can go down to the kitchens."

"Nonsense, Elizabeth. Stay up here with Olivia."

"We'll come with you to help." Sophie finally added and Clementine nodded in agreement. The trio began to exit but Mary took a moment to look Olivia right in the eyes.

"Use Veritaserum if you must." She said, only half joking. Then Mary smiled sweetly at Elizabeth and walked out of the room. Elizabeth sighed at this treatment.

"I hate waking dreams or any kind of nightmares."

"Tell me about it. I really do mean that."

"Are you sure?"

"Els." The warning only came once. And, as the girl's defenses deflated so did she.

"If you insist."  
…

"Can you just tell me something?" That voice always made Ethan internally shiver.

"What's up, Gustas?" He tried to keep his tone nonchalant but the Durmstrang student wasn't at all interested in beating around the pitch.

"You've been avoiding me." And it wasn't even an accusation, but a sharp statement meant to stop Ethan in his tracks. "Why?"  
He simply walked away faster. And soon a familiar hand impatiently tapped his shoulder.

And suddenly the world went darker for a moment as said hand then unceremoniously pushed him into an open broom closet.

"What's going on, Ethan?" Gustas could turn him on even in the dark.

"Gustas,"

"Don't 'Gustas' me. You barely kiss me anymore, you didn't even show up at my _birthday_ party and don't you dare tell me you were too sick to show. And don't you think that you can say that you're interested in someone because I know you Ethan Burns and you're definitely not." And now the Slytherin was being caressed gently by the Durmstrang boy. "So, as they say here, what's up?"

"I'm not the only keeping secrets, Gustas. And you certainly know everyone that's in my life in _my_ home"

The caresses came to a stunned halt.

But Ethan wasn't going to hide anymore.

He was too tired of running from this.

…

"I wonder what the last task will be." Monique Lehigh, a fourth year Ravenclaw, said to her friends from a few seats away. Sara Minett didn't really care about the Third Task anymore but she did care about a certain twat. And so her eyes flickered coolly to her ex-boyfriend, Tom.

Who apparently never liked it when she called him just 'Tom' instead of 'Thomas'.

The stupid prat was, of course, immersed in boring conversation with some fifth year she didn't care about.

"Well, whatever it is we at least have a Hufflepuff as our Champions so if it's any harder than the last two we probably don't have a chance." A boy, Daniel Lewis, responded.

"What about Potter?"

"What about Potter? The idiot clearly cheated his way in. And now even he realized he screwed up. So, really, he's not our Champion."

This got a mixture of replies. On the one hand, most Ravenclaws no longer supported the idea of Potter wanting to be in the tournament yet on the other hand most Ravenclaws didn't care for Gryffindors in general. Especially when Gryffindors always stole the glory.

"What do you think of all of this, Sara?" Joanna Hutchinson, a bright fifth year, asked her. Clara Brown, a friend of Joanna's, leaned forward in curiosity.

Most of the younger years looked up to Sara and the other seventh years. The current seventh years of Ravenclaw have always seemed to have their lives quite well in hand. Also, in the opinion of the younger years, the age difference clearly meant that said seventh years definitely had a few more years of wisdom.

Sara would never admit to any of her fans that their opinion in this regard was so very incredibly far from the reality of the situation.

"I think," She said, not really focused on the younger Ravenclaw girls, "That it is best for each to formulate their own opinion in an unbiased fashion. So, tell me, what do you two think of the situation?"

"Well, personally," Joanna began eagerly but Sara inwardly scowled at the unnecessary pestering these two girls were giving her today. She instead decided to glare furtively down the Ravenclaw table.

…

"Thomas? Have you heard anything I've said lately?" Thomas Payne blinked in confusion before realizing he really had not been focused today.

"Sorry, Emmett. Just a bit… distracted." Emmett turned his focus towards where Thomas's gaze had previously been directed.

"I'd say you've 'just a bit distracted' since Irene starting tutoring us a few weeks ago." Emmett said, with humor tinting his tone, as Thomas's eyes darted back to his friend. "Is there something wrong with the Slytherin table?" His question dripped with innocence but both Thomas and Emmett knew better than to assume Emmett was oblivious to the fact that Thomas had really begun to develop feelings for Irene.

"I don't think there's anything wrong." Thomas said blankly, unsure of how to respond. Emmett, who had begun to lighten up a bit ever since Irene started tutoring, smiled at this.

"If you say so."

…

"So, I was thinking, that since it's been about a month since you-know-what that maybe you should consider looking for other hippogriffs in the forest." Daisy looked up at Tracey from across the table knowing that her Hufflepuff friend really did mean well.

 _But dating is not really something I want to really focus on right now._

"Maybe." Daisy responded hesitantly.

"I did hear Collin was interested."

"Collin Creevey?"

"Merlins beard, no!" Tracey hastily backtracked out of conversation at this suggestion and Ryo could hardly resist holding back a snicker at the thought. The Asian girl looked over at Daisy and noticed a hint of a smile in the girl's coy eyes. Ryo quickly realized that Daisy knew Collin Creevey was the not the boy Tracey had mentioned and so Ryo had to conclude that Daisy was just being facetious.

 _Good for you, Daisy. It's good to see that smile again._

 _At least one of us can do that again._

…

A/N: Yes, we are definitely nearing the end of this tale. Till next time.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: And now it's time for our usual characters to have some more unusual interactions (and for some canon characters to make appearances). I promise we will get to the Third Task soon, it's just a matter of re-editing and the likes.

Also, if you're confused by Sara suddenly referring to Thomas as an ex: The couple they're based off of is one that suddenly broke it off and they broke it off extremely quietly. Therefore, I only found out through friends and so I didn't want to try to glamorize the moment or add more than what I saw.

Enjoy!

…

Even for a Ravenclaw he was probably in the library far too often. His taste in knowledge usually ran through the sciences and didn't really touch the usual philosophy or spell work most of his Housemates took interest in. Adalie did note that he seemed to approve of those subjects but the strange boy appeared to truly be taken by the concept of meshing Muggle science with magic.

Granted, there wasn't that much writing on the matter but he apparently wasn't put in Ravenclaw for nothing.

"Ryo," She startled her unofficial girlfriend one day in May. "Do you know that boy?"

Ryo subtly turned around, glancing in the direction that Adalie indicated. She looked back at Adalie with a slightly exasperated look.

"You do realize the Houses don't really get along, right?"  
"That's not correct: you're friends with quite a few Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and even a few Slytherins."

"There is an occasional exception."

"Alright. So, who is he?"

"Why the sudden interest in him?" Ryo's sharper than normal tone gave Adalie reason to pause before responding.

"I am not lusting after him and I have no intentions of letting you go anytime soon." Ryo visibly relaxed a little, sheepishly blushing at the thought of being jealous.

"Sorry."

"No, it's okay."

"So, then," Ryo repeated her question once more. "Why the interest?"

"I have observed your school for almost a year, Ryo, and there's rarely a teenager that stays in the library every week. I don't mind the students that have _study_ sessions in the back because even those kids are a rarity." Adalie smiled almost coquettishly at her girlfriend and continued on with her explanation.

"And yet, here's a boy who seems far too routine for a teenager. He's not trying to be better than Granger, he's not reading to escape reality, he's just _reading_ and probably reading just for fun."

"And is there anything wrong with that?"

"He's clearly lonely but also he's clearly comfortable with that fact."

"How did we go from thinking he's 'too routined' to assuming he's also lonely?"

"He cradles books on Einstein and yet he occasionally leans towards books focused on how relationships work. He's analyzing possibilities by reading about them and yet he stays in his own little corner surrounded by facts and theories. So, he's clearly lonely but he's also clearly not going to change that fact."

"I didn't know you liked to play detective, Adalie."

"I had to do something when you told me you needed space a while ago. But, really, I don't care if _he_ appears to be quite content when it comes to being lonely because _I_ cannot stand to see it so."

"You do realize Emmett won't probably be willing to take your help if we suddenly barge in on his reading, right?"  
"Emmett is his name? No wonder he's always in the library."

"I shouldn't have said that."  
"Nonsense!" Adalie firmly whispered and she stood up to head to walk see exactly who this Emmett was.

"Adalie!"

"Shhh!"

"Sorry, Madame Pince!"

…

Emmett Clayton was a bit surprised when Adalie walked over. Emmet had noticed the girl observing him for weeks now. He could tell, or at the very least he hoped, that she wasn't coming over with the intentions of pursuing something more than a friendship or acquaintanceship. Emmett immediately attempted to swipe away the irrational thought because clearly Adalie had no interests in pursuing any male at all.

He did, after all, witness Adalie Guillory coolly shut Ernie Macmillan down earlier this year. The poor Hufflepuff apparently thought he stood a chance when it came to asking his fellow Hufflepuff, Ryo Nakamori, out on a date with him on some Hogsmeade Weekend.

Clearly, Ernie's hypothesis was doomed to fail from the very beginning.

"Hello," He greeted her politely though he was not quite sure what he should do or how he should act. However, Emmett wasn't one to nix manners just because he had no idea of someone's intentions.

"Hi." She returned the greeting, sitting down across from him. He noted that her fingers were steepled together and she curiously gazed at him.

"Adalie Guillory, I presume?"

"And you're Emmett." Although it wasn't a question he still felt the inclination to nod in agreement.

"May I ask what brings you over here today, Miss Guillory?" She smiled briefly before nodding her head.

"You may." Came the response.

 _So, you're one of_ those _types of conversationalists_ , Emmett thought to himself with an inward chuckle.

"What brings you over here today, Miss Guillory?

"I want to ask you a few things, Emmett." And now that his curiosity was piqued, he allowed her to continue.

 _Would Father approve of my allowing this strange conversation to be conducted?_

 _Undoubtedly not._

 _Does that fact make me further intrigued?_  
 _Undoubtedly yes._

Emmett was jolted out of his thoughts as Ryo joined the table.

"What kind of questions do you have in mind?"

"Well, pardon my asking, but can you tell us why you always carry around _Hogwarts, a History_?"

…

Adalie was mildly startled when Ryo asked about the book but both the girls noticed Emmett's ears faintly blush at the question.

"A friend of mine once gave me their copy when mine went missing."

"Oh? They sound nice." He smiled at this casual remark.

"She really is quite lovely." Emmett responded, not noticing his slip until it was too late. The blush quickly grew and he was forced to look away from the two girls.

"She?"

"Adalie," Ryo warned once more but the Beauxbaton student turned to the Hufflepuff with a reassuring smile.

Really, it wasn't as though she was going to set fire to the library. All she was going to do really was just a little bit of matchmaking.

"Would you prefer for us to discuss something else?"

"Yes," Came the flustered response.

 _Well_ , Adalie thought to herself, _Matchmaking doesn't happen overnight._

…

"I heard from Olivia that you had some sort of scare this week. Are you alright?" Elizabeth glanced up tiredly at Kostya as they sat in the Three Broomsticks.

When Mary and Olivia got the full details of the nightmare out of her all of the girls decided to put a lot more effort into their friendships. It was almost like a reunion of sorts because every girl in the seventh year Gryffindor dorm had faded away from one another over time. It would take work to truly regain the friendships but each girl could agree it would be worth it.

"I'm just fine, really." He didn't really believe her but Elizabeth didn't expect him to believe her for one moment.

"I think a better question to ask is if you're okay? I heard Burns and Gustas are having a real falling out?" He snorted in laughter at this and she raised an eyebrow at that reaction.

"It's unfortunate that Gustas decided to play with Ethan's heart but I cannot advise my friend in regards to his life. If he wants to play games he can."  
"Yeah, it seems we can only watch as problems spiral out of control. Especially if our friends don't want our help." Elizabeth agreed and Kostya looked over at her.

"Indeed." They both went back to drinking the Butterbeer they bought and getting lost in their thoughts.

"I'm afraid that as the school year comes to a close so does our contact." Elizabeth began to venture, staring into her drink.

"You do promise to write?"

"Of course."

"Then I see no reason for our contact to end."

"Then that's that, I suppose."

"Indeed." He repeated, but this time they both knew that it was probably more of an empty promise than anything.

However, an empty promise is probably worth more than an outright lie.

…

"So, my dear Irene, can you explain why Thomas Payne appears to as smitten with you as a Ravenclaw can be? Would it happen to be because he was apparently one of the students you _tutored_ with the permission of the despicable _Professor_ Snape?"

"Ann," Came the weary sigh. "I can't help who my crushes are just like nobody else can help who they crush on. Nothing is going to come out of just _talking_ to Thomas considering I tutored him for more than three weeks and not even a hint came out of that."

"I think his breaking up with Sara Minett is definitely a hint of something that came out of these tutor sessions he's been having with you." Ann defended herself before continuing. "Look, I know you, Irene. And I know that this whole thing is a bloody mess."

"Oh really?" The older Slytherin sighed at Irene's biting tone.

"Yes. But if there's something I know about you, Irene, it's that fighting you in this regard is only going to end up destroying this friendship."

"Is this the equivalent of your blessing?"

"Sod off, Irene. You don't need my blessing." Irene paused at this opinion before smirking softly.

"Perhaps. But it's much appreciated, Hayes."

"Anytime, Deening."

All was well between the girls, even if both would vehemently say otherwise.

…

"Are you alright, Elizabeth?"

"Sophie, I really do love you. But if you ask me that one more time I might just scream." Came the weary response. Sophie glanced worriedly at Elizabeth because the girl did seem to become paler by the day.

"You're stressed out. I just want to help." The normally timid girl was beginning to stand her ground.

"Trust me, you all have been a great help."

"Really, you've not touched any of your food lately, Elizabeth. Do I have to bring in Mary?" Exhausted brown eyes flickered away from the Slytherin table and looked towards serious cerulean blue.

"That'll not be necessary." Elizabeth said as she nibbled on some toast.

 _Why did this year have to be so bloody complicated and so not what I expected?_

…

"What's wrong, Ryo?" The girl had been quieter than normal but turned to her French companion at the question.

"I just have this bad feeling about the Third Task." The final Triwizard task was less than three weeks away but it felt like it was much closer.

Adalie gave her a brief hug, understanding Ryo needed some form of reassurance.

"It'll all work out just fine." Her Asian girlfriend merely deflated at the words.

"Would it cheer you up if we interrogated Emmett today on his mysterious crush? I think we almost got a name yesterday."

Now _that_ got a good laugh out of the Hufflepuff.

 _Rightfully so, I should say_.

…

"You know what's almost disappointing, Harry?"

"What, Hermione?"

"I know this doesn't relate to the Tournament, or even the Elves, but I'm disappointed that the seventh years really haven't been prepping for their NEWTS. And the fifth years haven't even started studying-"

"Hermione." Ron Weasley's exasperated voice came forth to halt the witch's lecture. "They're teenagers. It's a few weeks away. How could they possibly want to study when there's so much time left?"  
"Honestly," Hermione began to snap in defense. Harry let a sigh out as another pointless row was beginning to erupt.

"Guys?" He tried to interrupt the pair but it was already too late.

"You two never did tell us how exactly you got away with messing up Snape's cupboard."

"Did we not,"

"Already tell you,"

"That we didn't do it?" Fred and George Weasley tiredly finished the sentence, frustration radiating off the two jokesters for once.

"Clearly they don't have the audacity to take credit, for once." A cheeky voice added.

"Shut up, Lee." Their friend chuckled at this, unable and unwilling to contain himself.

A/N: Alright, it's almost time for the final task!


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: We are sooo very very close to the end of the story so here goes something!

...

Time had flown gracelessly and soon the final Task was upon them. Rumors flew around the school faster than Firebolts and tension rose alongside excitement.

It was almost time for hell to break loose.

….

"Are you still worried about them?"

"Them?" Ryo responded, quite confused. Adalie and Ryo had been walking along the greenhouses. Peace smiled at the pair in the form of sunbeams, flowers, and fresh air.

"Diggory, Potter. They are from your school, after all." Ryo looked at the flowers as a frown appeared.

"I am concerned for all of them. But," She paused and tried to find something to help explain the mixture of emotions swirling around inside.

"I know that it'll end up okay. That whatever happens in this last task might not be good. But it will eventually be okay."

...

Well, this was an odd role reversal.

"You can't avoid me forever you know." Elizabeth warned Charles as he turned another corner, quickening his pace. It had been weeks since he and Daisy split but in that time he'd been uninterested in thinking about anyone other than Elizabeth. Yet, she was uninterested in giving him a chance for something other than friendship.

But he didn't want her friendship.

He just really wanted her.

Which wasn't right. Because he just stopped dating Daisy and Elizabeth had never really been on his mind for the last seven years, she's just a friend that he just so happened to occasionally dream about. Aren't all girl friends dreamt about in that way?

In all honesty, all these confusing emotions were really messing him up to the point where he had tempting dreams about her and yet wanted to run away from her at the exact same time. He wanted to snog her in a dark corridor and yet he wanted to slap himself for stupidity and move on from her because clearly she wasn't going to be worth his time.

"How the hell is this possible?" He muttered angrily to himself as he ducked inside a broom closet, quite terrified to face her. It truly was the perfect hiding spot because it was everyone always suspects the broom closet so nobody checks the broom closet.

If Charles's logic was a little flawed nobody would really blame.

"You do realize, Charles," Elizabeth began again as she panted from the effort it took to chase him down. He really did try to ignore the mental images that came to mind at the sound of that noise. So focused was Charles that he missed the rest of her statement.

But he didn't miss the sound of her footsteps as she came closer to the closet. His heart began to race alongside her unsteady cadence as he began to grip the door.

 _Just keep walking by, Abrams. Just keep walking by and please avoid this door. We really do_ not _have to talk because I don't really know what's going to happen if you open this door._

"First off," The damn knob was turning, "I think you'd prefer dealing with me than my mates." The door began to open, revealing messy hair and lopsided robes.

Lopsided robes that Charles wanted to mess up even more.

"Secondly," She shot him a glare as the door fully opened, "If you're going to avoid me for weeks on end then you definitely can't escape a five minute conversation about how you really feel. You better just tell me you don't want friendship instead toying around with mixed signals."

The door closed behind her and she crossed her arms. Charles couldn't help but gulp inaudibly for that particular action really did accent a part of her body he's always been curious about.

"This really is not the right time. Dinner's gonna start soon." That was definitely the most pathetic excuse he's used yet to avoid talking about something.

"Ooh, you're going to be the timid one now? The one who avoids the problems by running away?" He knew she had every right to finally say those words but it really wasn't helping that Elizabeth was damn attractive when she was angry, brown eyes alit with fire and a passionate, and quite irritated, gaze thrown directly at him.

"It's time to face your emotions, _Charles_." She took another step closer to him and looked him straight in the eyes as her breathing finally evened out. "It's time to see if you're really alive under all those walls or if you're just going to slither away behind excuses."

And that's when Charles woke up to heavy breathing that was just his own. There was no broom closet surrounding him. Just the dreary seventh year Slytherin dormitory. He sunk back into his bed, scowling at the fact that it was the dream he thought he stopped having when he had taken up with Daisy all those years ago.

Couldn't he have at least kissed her _this time_?

Just this once?

…

"Just a few more hours and then we're gone." Antonin, a fellow Durmstrang student, gleefully spoke from a little ways down the Slytherin table.

Kostya pushed around his food on his plate, twirling bits of dried salad with his fork. Feigned interest was painted all over his face as he absorbed the conversation floating around him.

In just a few hours the Final task would be upon them. NEWTS finally ended for the poor seventh years of Hogwarts.

And yet there was still a faint aura of fear and dread that clouded the Great Hall today.

And it was, Kostya thought humorlessly, completed unrelated to the exams.

…

"I was wondering something and in fact it's been bugging me for quite some time, actually."

Irene stared at the boy in front of her with a neutral expression. She already had a vague feeling, more like a vague _hope_ , in regards to what she thought he was going to say next. But she bit her tongue and refrained from saying anything that could possibly destroy this precious, awkward moment.

"I was wondering if you might consider something… more than friendship? With me, that is?" He was so adorable when so uncharacteristically flustered. And that's how she knew he was being quite serious. She looked at him and kept the neutral countenance for only a few more seconds before cracking a soft smile.

"I've been wondering something myself." She said, observing his confusion at the statement. She took a step closer before leaning in to whisper her question in his ear.

"I've been wondering… what exactly does your love taste like?"

And that was a question they dedicated the next few hours to try to figure it out.

…

"I'm just glad that the nightmare that is NEWTS is finally over!"

"You said it, Mary." Mary chuckled at this remark as Elizabeth allowed herself to drift from reality.

"And speaking of nightmares and irritations," Mary huffed as she turned to greet the shadow that fell over the two Gryffindors. Reality coldly came back to Elizabeth and she straightened up with her back still to the newcomer. She didn't even bother to glance over her shoulder because there were only two students that could induce such a strong reaction from Mary.

"Hello, Charles." She says because Edith is never around anymore.

…

"Emmett?"

"Clara, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about for a while." She suddenly gave him a rather nervous look at this. She had noticed how he seemed to always be talking to other girls, hiding away in the library more so than normal.

And she was not ready to hear how he suddenly became enamored with some Hufflepuff or that Beauxbaton girl.

"Oh, Emmett! Couldn't it wait till after the final task?" He paused, frustrated that she wasn't letting him speak.

"I supposed so." Finally came the quiet response. She quickly smiled at him.

"Don't worry, Emmett! I'm sure the Champions will be fine!"

 _That's not who I'm worried about_.

…

"Ooh," A moan of delight escaped before he could help it. "This really, _really_ should be over." Another shiver of pleasure betrayed his serious tone. "You have a girlfriend back home." A hand lustfully wandered through Ethan's hair, massaging his head at the same time.

"She is cheating on me this very moment, I guarantee you." Gustas whispered into his ex's ear as another hand began to caress him.

How Ethan ended up here was hazy.

How this was going to end was probably going to be just as hazy.

"This is _so_ wrong." Neither of them believed that by this point.

"As you English say, 'the lady doth protest too much, methinks'."

…

Olivia knew it was irrational to actually look forward to the dangerous, final task of the Triwizard tournament yet she was never one for logic. And with exams over she was content to lounge out on the grass in solitude as a celebration.

What was the point in living if you didn't appreciate life? The thrill of adventure, the nerves that accentuate something new, the adrenaline rushing through her veins at the thought of the enigma of the Third Task.

It was as though she was participating in the final task herself.

…

"So," Ann said to herself, glancing out a window to look at what used to be the Quidditch Pitch.

"Why would anyone want to participate in this mess?"

She was, of course, by herself because Irene had been whisked away by the 'love of her life' after breakfast. Ann's eyes rolled at the sickening thought before she looked back towards the pitch.

"Just a few more hours and the whole thing will finally be over."

However, knowing the famous Mr. Potter, Ann was reasonably certain that the whole damn thing was just getting started.

…

A/N: Ann is quite correct, however, in regards to the drama that is about to unfold in the Wizarding World (the drama everyone knows about in the fandom, of course). Yet that doesn't mean this little story cannot come to an end because the next chapter is in fact the last chapter!


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Still don't own Harry Potter, but I do own my life experiences. Please, enjoy :)

…

The crowds eagerly hastened to the Quidditch Pitch. Cries of disgust came from the die-hard Quidditch fans who didn't believe the rumors of what had happened to their beloved pitch.

Soon the cries faded and chatter roared to life as the stands continued to fill.

"Oy, look at them stars."

"Which ones? The ones in the sky or the ones attached to McGonagall, Moody, Flitwick, and Hagrid."

"I wonder if anyone's gonna die this time."  
"No need to get so excited, Jess! For a 'Puff you sure seem morbid."

"Oy! Bagman's gonna speak!"  
"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task is about to begin!..."

"Clara, I really don't think I can wait."

"Not now, Emmett! I think it's going to start in a few seconds."

"How dare you elbow me for silence! Just wait until my father hears about this!"

"So who do you think is gonna win?"

"We believe,"

"That Harry,"

"Is clearly the one with the best chance."

"… Right then."

…

"Go Harry!" The truly dedicated Gryffindors, aka Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Hermione Granger, eagerly yelled as their friend ran into the maze.

And while Charles did appreciate their loyalty… Well, no, he actually didn't care for it at all. At least, not when said loyalty meant he would be getting a rather nasty headache from their cheering

Merlins beard, he wasn't even sitting next to them!

And so Charles got up once he realized he was in the vicinity of the Harry Potter fan club. Unfortunately, the stands the were already filled to the brim with people so the Slytherin was forced to stumble awkwardly through crowds of people.

Well, at least the crowd put him in such an irritable state that he was in no mood to snog—

 _Damn my brain_ , Charles irritably thought as mental images of more than just snogging came to mind.

"Oh, excuse me." A high pitched giggle, one worthy of an intoxicated Beauxbaton student, came from his left. And when he turned to see what was going on Charles couldn't help but gape for a good few seconds.

Ethan Burns and Gustas However-you-pronounce-that-last-name were almost falling over themselves. Now, having known Ethan for seven years Charles didn't question the alcohol. What Charles did question was how it difficult it would be for them to exit the stands in their current condition.

Well, not his problem.

"Charles Moore, just the wizard I was looking for." A calm voice stated. He turned unexpectedly to the sound of Irene Deening's voice.

Definitely one of the last people he was expecting to talk to today.

"Yes, Deening?" He asked suspiciously as her smile widened.

"Surely you of all people have a seat or two saved? I'm afraid I couldn't deal with Durmstrang students today."

"Okay?"

She paused for a moment before realizing what his dilemma was.

"You're telling me that you don't have some intimidated first year saving you a spot?" She sighed, quite exasperated, before scanning the crowd before grabbing his wrist.

"C'mon. You've never intimidated me, especially when you're awkwardly standing around like a lost puppy." His eyes further widened at the audacity of her simile and she snickered at this.

"C'mon, puppy. We need to find ourselves a temporary home."

"Shut up, Deening." He finally got out as he began to follow the girl until two people knocked into them.

"Quite sorry about that!" A Ravenclaw girl with curly dark brown hair cried over her shoulder as she focused on the boy on her right. They both seemed unnaturally happy and Charles was struck by a familiar feeling he hadn't really experience in years.

Definitely one of the weirder moments of his week.

They continued to shuffle around the hyped up students in search for the unintentionally elusive Ann Hayes.

That was at least until a familiar figure stumbled into Irene by mistake.

"Damn it." Came the faint whisper from behind Irene but the Slytherin girl ignored as she went to the aid of the girl.

"Are you alright, Abrams?"

"Quite fine, Deening." Came the automatic response as Elizabeth realized who she bumped into.

"You sure?"

"Just a little lost." Elizabeth finally gave the more accurate response. The Gryffindor glanced up at Charles but the Slytherin was firmly ignoring this, choosing to stare at the Maze instead.

"Oh, just come along with us." Irene said and used her other free hand to grab Elizabeth's. The seventh year girl froze at this.

"You sure?"

"Absolutely."

Irene was enjoying this little scene far too much in Charles's opinion. But, without another word, the trio continued to move through the ocean students. Irene took the lead, forcing the other two to walk right next to each other. A flustered kind of air began to cling to their skin and a wall of awkwardness separated the two.

They'd get to the heart of the matter eventually.

"Elizabeth?" A voice shouted over the chatter. Once the students realized they wouldn't be able to see anything they grew quite bored, and almost restless, with just watching the maze. Their attention shifted from watching the maze to watching the other students and soon all the collected schools began to bond over the one thing they could all do: gossip.

"Elizabeth?" The speaker repeated and the Gryffindor looked up to spot Olivia, Mary, Clementine, and Sophie all clustered together. Irene followed Elizabeth's gaze and saw a familiar red head.

"Ann!" She called out and pushed Charles and Elizabeth in the direction of Elizabeth's friends.

"Ann and… Thomas?" Now _that_ was quite the coincidence.

"Irene!" Came the two eager responses.

"Oh, and you don't have to worry about leaving, Charles. You're _quite_ welcomed." Mary murmured as he was unceremoniously shoved between the mother hen and Sophie. Elizabeth was ushered to sit next to Olivia and Clementine and she grew quiet yet again when she realized Charles was still nearby.

"Can you believe it?" Ann asked Irene as the sixth year sat down. "It just so happens me and Thomas here chose to sit next to one another. And then we just started talking and now you're here. What a coincidence!"  
"Quite." Irene replied dryly. "So how long has she been interrogating you on our relationship, Thomas?"

"Irene! What kind of a person do you take me for?"  
"A Slytherin." Came the deadpanned response that her friend could only laugh at.

And only a few meters away a certain French girl sat next to a certain Hufflepuff. Adalie was in the midst of people-watching while Ryo remained transfixed on the maze. Their hands had been clutched together since the task started.

"I wonder what's going on up there?"

"What was that, Adalie?"

"Nothing, Ryo. Just focus on the Maze. Have you seen any movement?"

Adalie glanced around once more after Ryo confirmed that nothing seemed to have happened yet. She couldn't help but focus once more on the group of Gryffindors converged a few people away.

"Simply put," Mary began. "We don't need this to be a soap opera. Or a bad novel."

Olivia nodded at this remark before adding her own thoughts.

"We can't force either of you to do anything. Not really."

"So it's either you get your feelings out now or we get Daisy's blessing to lock you two in a broom closet until you've worked it out the hard way. Because Daisy, I think, wouldn't mind helping us out these days." Charles, who had been stiller than stone, nearly flinched at the second suggestion. Elizabeth merely blushed quite furiously.

"What makes you think there's anything to talk about? I don't think-"

"Thinking is what probably caused the problem in the first place, Abrams." Muttered Ann as Sophie interrupted Elizabeth.

"But you see, Elizabeth, when you think – you specifically – it means that you're probably bottling up your emotions. Which is not good." Olivia and Irene nodded at this and it soon became blatantly obvious that nobody was going to drop the subject.

"I don't always bottle up my emotions!" Elizabeth angrily defended herself and she crossed her arms, appearing to act more like her normal self and far less timid.

"Oh? Do we really need to bring up fourth year in front of a crowd?' Mary rhetorically asked, scoffing at this.

"What exactly happened during fourth year, Curtis?" Ann asked, just a teensy bit curious, and Mary rolled her eyes.

"Don't act coy, Hayes. It's not your style." Ann pouted.

"So she's allowed to act timid and flustered for once," She said, pointing at Elizabeth, "And I can't even get one question answered?" Five pairs of eyes became fixed on her by this point and she rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Just let me be the one to shove these two idiots into a closet please?"

"It'd be my pleasure but you'd probably have to get in line."

"That's very funny, Mary."

"Almost as funny as-"

And that's when the sound of Portkey began to reach the impatient audience. That was when a startled silence choked the stands for a few moments. That was when the stuttering cries of students begin to emerge and the gossiping turned into horrified gasps and uncontained screams as the nightmare soon began to chaotically unfold.

By that point Adalie had reached for Ryo's right hand for comfort as the left one was currently being placed against her mouth in horror.

It was also the moment that Olivia paled and stared in morbid astonishment as she realized Cedric Diggory was not breathing.

Sophie quickly collapsed from shock and all Mary and Clementine could do was pray the girl succumbed to blissful ignorance.

Ann gasped as she realized the joke everyone had been making came true: somebody had actually _died_ tonight.

Irene realized there were tears beginning to form as she began to tremble. She couldn't help but note that Thomas was also petrified by the sight before them.

Charles hadn't realized it but by this point he was reaching out and gripping Elizabeth's hand quite tightly, if only because she seemed rather faint and certainly not because he felt just as sick as she did.

And the excitement that had gripped the schools shattered into a mixture of fear and discord. Panic began to coat the energy in the air and confusion took over the minds of all those present.

All was definitely not well.

…

 _Fin_


End file.
